TP net income drops in 1Q

France Telecom’s Polish unit Telekomunikacja Polska (TP) has reported that its net income fell 34% in the first quarter of 2011 to PLN189 million (USD69.5 million) from PLN285 million in the first quarter of 2010. Revenue declined 3.7% to PLN3.73 billion as a 2.2% increase in wireless revenue was insufficient to offset the decline in the fixed line sector. While the company increased its mobile subscriber base to reach 14.4 million in the three months to 31 March, the decline in average revenue per user (ARPU) and minutes of use, combined with growth in the number of smartphones pushing up subscriber acquisition costs, have had a detrimental effect on its results. Meanwhile, TP’s internet subscriber figures rose by 11,000 to almost 2.3 million in the quarter and TP has said it plans to attract more internet subscribers by offering faster lines and services from television broadcaster TVN starting in the current quarter.