MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Telefonica said on Monday it had 1.4 million subscribers to its pay-TV service at the end of July in its home market after signing up 200,000 customers in a single month.
The total suggests it could comfortably hit its yearly target of 1.5 million customers.
In a note, Telefonica said the increase was due to the rollout of its fast internet networks. Its closest pay-TV competitor, cable operator Ono which is being bought by Vodafone Group Plc, had 790,000 clients at the end of July.
Telefonica has also agreed to buy Prisa's pay-TV business Canal+, which is the leading operator in the business with 1.6 million subscribers.
If regulators give it the go-ahead to buy the business, Telefonica would become the number one operator in pay-TV with 3 million customers and more than 60 percent of the market.
(Reporting By Robert Hetz, writing by Sarah Morris; Editing by Sophie Walker)