Iliad Group CEO Thomas Reynaud lauded the company’s continued customer recruitment, as it reported it is now in the top five European telecoms groups in terms of combined fixed and mobile subscribers.

As of the end of H1, Iliad had 40 million mobile subscribers across its operations in France, Poland and Italy, and 10 million fixed lines. Of these, more than 1.3 million were added in H1 alone.

In a statement made alongside its half year financial results, Reynaud indicated if you also counted users from Tele2 and Republic of Ireland-based operator Eir, where it holds substantial stakes, this would bring Iliad’s sum to “as many as” 61 million.

The executive described the achievement of entering the top five as an “historic milestone”, with its five-year Odyssey 2024 strategic plan “coming to fruition”.

“Our next Odyssey will be forged by ongoing innovation, investing in our 5G and fibre networks, and strengthening our cloud and data centre activities,” he added.

Alongside improving user numbers across its trio of direct markets, the company also booked revenue increases.

Across the group, revenue of €4.9 billion was up 10.3 per cent year-on-year and net profit increased 8.6 per cent to €251 million.