Everything Everywhere (EE), the new UK market leader created through the merger of Orange UK and T-Mobile UK, announced sound, if uninspiring, results for the second quarter of 2010, trumpeting “positive underlying revenue growth [and] strong net customer additions despite challenging market conditions.” It said that the customer base grew by 3.4 percent year-on-year to reach 27.9 million, “principally due to a continued commitment to retaining customers;” contract churn fell to 1.4 percent from 1.7 percent, although “average monthly churn” increased to 2.5 percent from 2.2 percent.  EBITDA was £309 million, down 18.5 percent year-on-year, on mobile service revenue of £1.56 billion, down 5.3 percent, with the company citing the introduction of lower mobile termination rates by the regulator. Excluding the regulatory impact, the underlying performance remained stable, with a growth of 1 percent year-on-year.

EE said that it “continues to make excellent progress on its integration plans,” with an accelerated timeframe following regulatory approval in March 2010. It said that from 5 October 2010, customers will be able to use both of the previously separate networks for no extra cost, as the “first phase of a multi-network strategy to combine 2G, 3G, 4G, fixed broadband and Wi-Fi in a unique customer offer.” The company is on-track to meet its £3.5 billion “synergy target,” having identified further savings in networks and IT, while also stating it is looking to expand its retail footprint and increase the number of network sites to 18,000+ from 16,000+.