Telefónica Germany in the first quarter:record number of new contract customers

"The record result for new contract customers shows that we are on the right track," says René Schuster, CEO of Telefónica Germany. "The postpaid share is already at 51 percent building on a consistent momentum from 2011," adds Schuster. Non-SMS data revenue was up 41.8 percent in comparison to Q1 2011, leading mobile data revenues to grow by 24.8 percent. The company also reported a strong growth in mobile service revenue, which was up 10.5 percent compared to the first quarter of the previous year to reach 758 million euros. In Q1 2012 mobile revenue totalled 904 million euros, an increase of 4.7 percent over the same period in 2011.

"Our strategy of focusing on sustainable profitable growth is paying off," says Rachel Empey, CFO of Telefónica Germany. "The success of the data business is also stimulating the positive trend in mobile revenue and boosting profits", she adds. Compared to Q1 2011, the ARPU of the contract customers grew by 0.4 percent to 21.40 euros per customer. The ARPU of the data users continued to rise as well, with a 19.4 percent increase on Q1 2011 taking it to 9.10 euros per customer.

Telefónica Germany's operative result (OIBDA) showed particularly strong growth and now stands at 295 million euros. This is an increase of 13.1 percent compared to the first three months of last year. The OIBDA margin also rose over the same period, up 2.2 percentage points to 23.4 percent. Ideas for the digital society of the future - Wayra Telefónica is investing in the digital society of the future. This year the company is bringing the international startup programme Wayra to Germany and will open an academy in Munich in September. Support for ideas begins on 21 May, when company founders from the IT and telecommunications environment can submit their project proposals. The newcomers will be given financial and technology support as well as suitable office space. The best startups will be paid up to €50,000 and will move into the Wayra Academy for six months to accelerate their projects. During this time they will also be looked after by experienced mentors, have access to the entire Wayra network in Europe and Latin America, and can offer their products to the more than 300 million Telefónica customers worldwide.

Wayra is part of the new business unit Telefónica Digital and is well on the way to becoming the biggest startup initiative in the world: In just 12 months, it received business ideas from more than 9,000 startups in nine countries. For more on the Wayra initiative, visit: www.wayra.org/DE