Jeremy Darroch’s BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) posted a 23 percent-better operating profit of £622 million over the first three months of this year, despite signing 100,000 fewer broadband customers than in the year before. Broadband sign-ups slowed from 229,000 to 130,000 (total now 2.08 million)—Sky’s only business segment in which growth has slowed.

In the analysts’ call, CEO Darroch answered concern that Sky isn’t well positioned to roll-out next-generation broadband speeds through fibre-to-the-cabinet or home: “There’s a lot of good theory about fibre ... We will continue to look and see at how things develop and change. We’ll participate in the trials that BT (NYSE: BT) are proposing... but the network assets we’ve assembled look adequate for the foreseeable future. We have still taken substantially all of the growth in the (broadband) market. We are growing in line or slightly ahead of our target.”

—Better VOD? Mobile VOD?: Darroch said Sky will boost its half-way Sky+ VOD offering (probably over broadband): “We’re working on software improvements which will enable us to have full VOD, including pull-VOD ... over HD ... probably still 12 months away.” “Mobile broadband is something we’ll look at - it might be a logical extension of what we do at some point.”

—Still interested in Tiscali? “There’s nothing that we feel we need to do ... only at the right price-value equation. Our ability to grow organically remains very strong.

—TV growth: But Sky is still motoring in TV entertainment - Sky+ sign-ups doubled to 406,000 (total 5.05 million), Sky+HD sign-ups grew fivefold to 243,000 (total 1.02 million), and phone line sign-ups grew six-fold to 270,000 (now 673,000). Triple-play customers for TV, broadband and phone have grown from nine percent to 15 percent and average revenue per customer is up seven percent to £452 a year.

—Acquisition costs: Sky’s growth may be driven primarily by HD and Sky+ growth, but it’s earlier decision to reduce Sky+HD boxes from £150 to £49 means it’s losing £100 per box - this has meant acquiring the new customers in effect cost it £60 million, and installation revenue slid nine percent to £192 million. Though Sky’s on-demand offering is more rudimentary than rival Virgin Media’s, Sky says 17 million shows are time-shifted by its customers every day.

Group revenue was up seven percent to £3.96 billion. In that, broadband brought in £265 million, advertising revenue slid six percent to £234 million, SkyBet was flat at £35 million after strong internet gambling growth was offset by a retraction in TV betting Sky is valuing as £191 million an impairment charge against its written-off 17.5 percent investment in ITV.

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