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While overall broadband customer numbers were down, fibre broadband connections were up 2pc to 835,000 customers.
Eir has seen a second-quarter drop in revenue as it lost around 15,000 broadband and TV customers.
The Irish telecoms company reported its latest earnings today (30 August), revealing that revenue dropped 3pc last quarter to €296m. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation was down 12pc to €141m.
There was a 3pc rise in operating costs to €97m. Eir said that “continued streamlining” of its cost base was “offset by additional costs” as a result of its acquisition Irish IT services firm Evros in an €80m deal last January.
The number of broadband customers was down by 1pc or 12,000 year on year to 958,000, while the number of TV customers fell by 4pc or 3,000 to 80,000.
It was not all bad news, however. Eir saw its fibre broadband connections rise 2pc to 835,000 customers, which now represents nearly 90pc of its total broadband base.
Eir also added 68,000 new customers – a 6pc rise – to its mobile base. Of these 1.26m customers, 935,000 or 74pc are on post-pay.
Eir chief financial officer Stephen Tighe said that the roll-out of Eir’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and 5G technologies continued in the second quarter as part of its €1bn capital investment programme.
“With 1.9m premises expected to be passed with FTTH broadband by 2026, together with our rapid expansion in 5G network coverage, through this large-scale investment we are well positioned to expand our customer base through the offering of high-quality, high-value products over the coming years,” he added.
In its last earnings report in May, Eir saw a rise in revenue. Even though broadband customers were down 1pc, spurred by a 3pc drop in retail customers, Eir’s fibre broadband connections shot up by 3pc to 831,000 in that quarter.
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