Mobile operator Three UK has published their latest results to 30th June 2024, which among other things reveals that 4,900 sites (up from 4,700 six months ago) across 656 towns and cities are now live with 5G (62% population coverage) and the average data (mobile broadband) usage per customer increased to 30.5GB (up from 30GB).
The operator has also completed construction of 311 (of which 269 are live) additional sites as part of the £1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, which is expanding the coverage of 4G services to more residents and businesses in rural locations across the UK.
In addition, Three UK said they’ve now replaced equipment (Huawei) on more than 600 sites (up from 350) to comply with the Government’s requirements for High-Risk Vendor (HRV) legislation (inc. 3k miles of fibre and equipment replaced across the UK), which also means that they’ve hit the July 2024 target for having less than 35% of HRV traffic on their radio network.
Three UK also said that they’ve successfully completed a pilot programme to prepare for the switch off of 3G services, which will itself “begin in September” 2024 – the goal was to switch this network off completely by the end of 2024.
Finally, at least in terms of their network highlights, they’ve expanded their 4G and 5G network in London Underground stations, with network launches at Paddington, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf and Woolwich stations. A total of 44 stations and 45 tunnels are now live.
Robert Finnegan, CEO of Three UK, said:
“We have made progress in the first of half of the year with growth in certain segments such as SMARTY, 5G Home Broadband and B2B.
Despite scaling back our capex, we continued to make a loss driven by the escalating inflationary costs of operating our network. Our cashflows have been negative since 2020 and our costs have almost doubled in 5 years, meaning investment in network is unsustainable.
UK mobile networks rank an abysmal 22nd out of 25 in Europe on 5G speeds and availability, with the dysfunctional structure of the market denying us the ability to invest sustainably to fix this situation. Our merger with Vodafone will unlock £11bn worth of investment in digital infrastructure, creating a best-in-class 5G network for the UK and helping to grow the UK economy.”
Financial highlights
- Revenue up 9% to £1,335m (H1 2023: £1,227m), with net customer revenue up 6% and handset revenue up 10%, driven by customer growth in certain customer segments (SMARTY, B2B and 5G Home Broadband)
- Total Margin up 9% to £879m (H1 2023: £808m)
- Operating expenses up 5% to £548m (H1 2023: £520m), driven by an enlarged network and cost inflation
- Reported EBITDA up 31% to £213m (H1 2023: £163m)
- Reported EBIT loss of £30m (H1 2023: £76m loss), a change of -61% y-o-y
- EBITDA-CAPEX of -£17m (H1 2023: -£112m) as cashflow has remained negative since 2020
- Reported CAPEX of £230m, down 16% y-o-y (H1 2023: £275m)
- Active customer base up 3% or 352k y-o-y bringing the total to 10.9m (H1 2023: 10.5m) amidst strong competition from MNVOs and other operators
- Total contract customers up 5% y-o-y to 9.2m (H1 2023: 8.8m) as a result of increases to B2B, 5G Home and SMARTY base offsetting decline in core business areas