Preliminary figures for Q3 2017: Telefónica Deutschland data usage surges thanks to new O2 tariffs

The new O Free tariffs with their large data packages contributed to demand for mobile data rising once again in the third quarter. In September, Telefónica Deutschland became the first provider in Germany to introduce standard tariffs with data volumes exceeding 10 GB at fair prices. This was preceded by strong demand for the 15 GB tariffs celebrating the brand's 15-year anniversary. While O customers with LTE tariffs used an average 2.4 GB per month, those with the new large data packages averaged more than 5 GB. At the same time, the number of LTE users jumped 48 percent to 15.7 million. Many prepaid customers by now also use LTE. Telefónica Deutschland had 52.9 million customer accesses at the end of the third quarter. Of those, 48.4 million were mobile accesses. The company therefore remains leader of the wireless market in Germany. In the postpaid segment, the new large-volume tariffs and a vibrant wholesale business contributed to the company adding 183,000 accesses amid an intensely competitive environment. In the prepaid business, the number of accesses was reduced by 535,000. The main reason for the decline were the regulatory identification requirements which were introduced in summer and which posed a hurdle to new customers. While demand for prepaid cards continues to be strong, Telefónica Deutschland is working with customers to assist them through the activation process. In addition, visitors from abroad increasingly used the option of using their tariffs from home in Germany without additional cost. Mobile churn remained low at 2.1 percent and was even lower for O postpaid customers at 1.5 percent. In the fixed-line business, the number of VDSL customers rose 45 percent in the third quarter, crossing the 1 million mark for the first time.