Telecom Services

Telefonica Capex dips 4.9% to €1.32 bn despite 5G and fiber push

May 12, 2022

Telefonica Group said its Capex declined 4.9 percent to €1,320 million, including 50 percent of VMO2, while operating cash flow (OIBDA – Capex) grew 6.4 percent to €2,433 million during the first quarter of 2022.
Telefonica has achieved significant reduction in Capex despite enhancing its focus on investment in fiber and 5G network.

Telefonica said its investment is focused on fibre deployment and the development of sustainable, open and virtualized technologies. Telefonica has maintained its leadership position in terms of the number of premises passed with fibre network, increasing its presence by 6 percent to 162.9 million premises, of which around 85 million are passed through Telefonica’s own network.

Telefonica’s 5G coverage is available in more than 400 UK cities / towns, around 250 German cities and 21 Brazilian cities, while in Spain it covers approximately 82 percent of the population. Telefonica also started the roll-out of 5G stand-alone, following the acquisition of spectrum in Spain, the UK and Brazil in 2021.

Telefonica Group has achieved 1.1 percent increase in the number of customers to 368.3 million at the end of March. Telefonica said fibre customers grew by 20 percent and mobile contract customers by 4.3 percent compared to March 2021.

Telefonica’s revenues reached €10.88 billion, aggregating 50 percent of VMO2 JV created in the UK, representing growth of 3.2 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

Telefonica has achieved double-digit increase in revenue in Brazil (+18.1 percent) and Hispam (+10.9 percent), for a total of €9.41 billion. Telefonica said of these revenues, 73 percent come from broadband connectivity and digital services, up 2.1 percentage points compared to the same period in 2021.

By markets, Spain accounted for 28 percent of Telefonica’s revenues; Hispam, 20 percent; Brazil, 18 percent; Germany, 18 percent; and the UK, 14 percent. Also by markets, 30 percent of OIBDA came from Spain, 21 percent from Brazil, 16 percent from Germany, 16 percent from Hispam and 15 percent from the UK.