UK telecoms provider TalkTalk has reported headline revenue of GBP 358 million (excluding carrier and off-net) for the three months to 30 June, down from GBP 387 million a year earlier. The fall is primarily down to the impact of Covid-19 (trading restrictions and cancellation of live sports) and ongoing industry-wide declines in voice usage made worse by lockdown, the operator said. However, TalkTalk said it had seen trading recovery and significant ARPU improvement in June and July, and expects ARPU to continue improving during the rest of FY21, driven by growth of fibre and Ethernet products.
During the first quarter to June, TalkTalk registered its lowest ever on-net churn of 0.68 percent, compared to 1.29 percent in the year-earlier quarter. The company had 67,000 fibre net additions in the quarter (118,000 in Q1 FY20), with an improving trajectory in June/July compared to April/May. In Q1, 84 percent of new consumer customers took a fibre product, compared to 70 percent in Q1 FY20, with 59 percent of these taking the faster, higher-ARPU 80 Mbps product.
In B2B, 58 percent of new Partner customers took a fibre product. Whilst impacted by Covid, the Ethernet base increased by 400 in Q1, compared to 1,000 in the year-earlier quarter, with 41 percent of new orders for the higher ARPU 1 Gbps lines. TalkTalk said that CityFibre FTTP connections were continuing in York, and in Bolton, Aberdeen, Newcastle, Milton Keynes and Peterborough later in 2020. CEO Tristia Harrison also reported strong sales of the new 'Business Grade Homeworker' package.
