Telefonica has revealed its capital expenditure (Capex) in Spain, Germany, United Kingdom and Brasil during 2019.
Telefonica’s Capex in January-December totalled €8.784 billion (+8.2 percent) and included €1.501 billion of spectrum. Telefonica Group has 344.3 million customers at December 2019.
The deployment of LTE and fibre networks, expansion of network capacity and virtualisation and improvement in quality and customer experience and investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the company’s technology platforms were some of the focus areas.
Telefonica’s Capex touched €1.646 billion (–4.2 percent) in Spain, €2.469 billion (+155.6 percent) in Germany, €914 million (–37.6 percent) in UK, €2.005 billion (+4.9 percent) in Brasil, €965 million (–13.6 percent) in Hispam Sur, €580 million (13.3) in Hispam Norte and €284 million (+56.5 percent) in Telxius.
Telefonica Spain’s Capex in January-December touched €1.646 billion due to the deployment of 4G and fibre networks.
Telefonica Germany’s Capex reached €2,469 million in 2019 (including €1,425 million of 5G spectrum obligations), mainly due to 4G/LTE roll-out investments enhancing customer experience.
O2’s Capex increased 3.4 percent to €914 million, primarily as a result of investments in network capacity in 4G and 5G and customer experience.
Telefonica Brasil’s Capex in January-December amounted to €2,005 million (+7.9 percent) mainly allocated for FTTH deployment with FTTH reaching 43 new cities and the expansion of the 4G network to 3,206 cities. LTE coverage of Telefonica Brasil reached 89 percent population. Capex accounted for 20 percent of revenues.
Telefonica Hispam Sur business Capex totalled €965 million associated with the deployment of 4G and FTTx and cable network. Capex accounted for 15 percent of revenues.
Argentina Capex in 2019 totalled €308 million and accounted for 14 percent over revenues, mainly due to the expansion of 4G and fibre networks.
Chile Capex at €310 million in January-December, accounted for 16 percent over revenues — mainly allocated to FTTH deployment.
Peru Capex at €294 million (–17.4 percent) accounted for 14 percent over revenues and was focused on the deployment of fibre and cable and the 4G mobile network.
Uruguay Capex reached €54 million.
Hispur Norte business Capex at €580 million (+11.6 percent) due to investments related to a contract awarded by the Colombian Government for the digital transformation of its institutions. Capex represented 14 percent of revenues.
Colombia Capex at €309 million in January-December increased 69.6 percent, impacted by investments associated with an awarding from the Colombian Government for the digital transformation of its institutions. Capex represented 22 percent of revenues.
Mexico Capex at €128 million decreased 35.3 percent. Capex represented 9 percent of revenues.
Subscriber growth
Telefonica Group’s FTTx/cable network passed 127.8 million premises (55.7 million owned network). Telefonica Group has 23.1 million FTTH homes in Spain, 21.1 million FTTH homes in Brazil and 11.4 million FTTx/cable in Hispam.
Retail FTTx/cable connected accesses totalled 14.3 million (+8 percent), and UBB accesses accounted for 69 percent of the total broadband base. Investment in fibre boosted revenues and efficiency as it is associated with copper legacy switch off plan.
LTE coverage stood at 79 percent — 96 percent in Europe and 73 percent in Latin America with traffic accounting for 78 percent of total. LTE deployment is benefiting from 2.4x spectral efficiency of 4G vs. 3G.
