Cogeco MVNO operations still a ways away

Cogeco Inc. does not plan to roll out its Canadian MVNO operations anytime soon, president and CEO Philippe Jetté told analysts in a Thursday fourth quarter earnings call. According to the CEO, the company will be able to provide an update on its mobile progress in both Canada and the United States in “future quarters”. “I'll note that if we are successful in MVNO negotiations, we don't anticipate a material rollout of our Canadian MVNO operations in the short term as we have some preparation work remaining to complete,” he said. Under the CRTC’s MVNO regime, agreements should be in place with regional providers availing of the service by Aug. 7 or else they can request final offer arbitration. Recently, Quebecor Inc. entered into FOA with BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., with the commission siding with Bell in the former case and Quebecor in the latter. According to Jetté Cogeco is still in negotiations and has not sought out FOA. Jetté said the company can only assess the concrete impacts the MVNO negotiations will have on its results in both the U.S. and Canadian market by fiscal 2025. In the U.S., where Cogeco operates Breezeline, the company plans to go “pure MVNO” according to Jetté. “It’s really an extremely capital-like approach where you can basically pay for most of the services… The goal of doing this is obviously so you can bundle products,” he said, adding that in the U.S. they will be targeting the areas where Cogeco currently operates. Regarding its Q4 2023 results, Cogeco posted an almost 19 per cent decline in profits to $90.5 million due to higher financial costs. Revenue grew by just under three per cent to $766.7 million compared to the same period last year. Its total Canadian revenue amounted to $375 million, a 0.5 per cent increase year-over-year, while American revenue remained relatively flat at $367 million. Cogeco added 14,000 internet customers in Canada over the fourth quarter, a 26% increase from Q3 2022’s 111,044 customers. Video customers were at a net loss of 5,184 and Cogeco reported a net loss of 1,378 net phone customers. Cogeco continued to execute on its strategic growth priorities in both Canada and the US, benefiting from its fiber-to-the-home network extension programs, which added nearly 124,000 homes passed over the last fiscal year – 23,000 homes this quarter. These expansions were facilitated through government subsidy programs aimed at reducing the urban-rural digital divide. In Quebec, the company completed the rural network expansion, expanding services to underserved areas, thanks to government support. Cogeco's expansion activities in Ontario were also ongoing. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Cogeco MVNO operations still a ways away

News | November 2, 2023

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Cogeco MVNO operations still a ways away

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