Proximus: abolishing roaming will cost us 61 million euros

The phasing out of roaming costs cost Proximus 36 million euros in turnover last year and this year it will increase to 61 million euros. The mobile provider makes this known in the quarterly figures. The number of Proximus customers is increasing.

For the last quarter of 2016, Proximus attributes an impact on turnover of 11 million euros to the consequences of the abolition of roaming charges. All amounts mentioned are those of Proximus itself and its subsidiary Tango.

Since April 30 last year, there has been a transitional arrangement in the run-up to June 15 this year, when roaming charges in the EU are a thing of the past. Many carriers have already drastically reduced their roaming charges.

In the fourth quarter, Proximus added 17,000 new customers to its TV service, which now has a total of 1.49 million customers. Fixed Internet also grew, with 15,000 new customers to 1.92 million subscribers. Fixed telephony lost 8,000 subscribers, meaning that Proximus now has 2.69 million fixed-line calling customers. The number of postpaid mobile customers increased by 45,000, but prepaid decreased by the same amount.

Total quarterly turnover amounted to 1.49 billion euros, which was 0.8 percent lower than last year. Net profit rose by 8.5 percent to 523 million euros.