UK telco EE has reported £1.4bn in service revenues for Q1, a drop of five.4 per cent year-on-year.

That’s despite the introduction of a 3rd operator brand, also referred to as EE, alongside its Orange and T-Mobile brands, which has seen ‘strong take-up’ for its 4G services, based on EE’s statement.

 The operator has gained 318,000 4G users in five months of trading, 2.3 per cent of EE’s total customer base – but that has didn’t offset a drop in subscribers overall.

However, its underlying ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) has grown by 2.2 per cent year-on-year. 53 per cent of mobile customers at the moment are on postpaid plans, which deliver five times higher ARPU than prepaid, compared to 49 per cent a year earlier.

During the period, smartphone penetration among its postpaid customers hit 82 per cent, up from 71 per cent last year. Data revenue grew to make up 36 per cent of ARPU, from 27 per cent last year.

“Today’s results are in-line with our expectations, and we’re making good progress concentrating on high value segments,” said EE chief financial officer Neal Milsom. “We’re announcing 318,000 4G customers after just five months of trading, strong postpaid net adds and continued growth in our underlying average revenue per user.  We expect to bolster our industry leadership position within the year ahead because the 4G roll out continues and we introduce double-speed 4GEE.”

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