MONTREAL – Quebec MSO Videotron showed ongoing growth among cable TV, internet and voice over IP phone customers in the second quarter of 2009, ended June 30th, the company announced Thursday.
“We have now recorded growth for all our products for 16 consecutive quarters,” said Robert Dépatie, president and CEO of Quebecor-owned Videotron, in a press release announcing the company’s Q2 results.
Quebecor Inc.’s release shows telecommunications revenue of $232.7 million in the quarter, 27% higher than Q2 2008.
The customer base for Videotron’s basic cable television service increased by 3,453 during the second quarter to 1,732,621 as of June 30, 2009, including 990,308 customers for illico digital TV, an addition of 27,155 during the period (flat compared to Q2 2008). The proportion of Videotron cable television customers who subscribe to the digital service stood at 57% at the end of the second quarter of 2009, compared with 50% at the same point last year.
Videotron is the largest provider of high-speed Internet access service in Québec with 1,109,900 residential and business subscribers at the end of the second quarter of 2009, an increase of 20,649 during the quarter, compared to an addition of 23,600 during the second quarter of last year.
The company also noted it is continuing the rollout of its of 30 Mbps and 50 Mbps broadband options, the fastest in the province, it says. Since July, Ultimate Speed Internet 30 and 50 have been available to approximately 300,000 Montréal West Island households and businesses and 50,000 new potential customers in Laval.
Videotron’s cable telephone service registered the strongest quarterly growth of all Videotron products with an increase of 43,919 residential and business lines, bringing the total to 934,837 as of June 30, 2009. That compares to 51,300 new VOIP customers added over the same period of 2008.
While Videotron will launch its own wireless network in 2010, it continues to activate customers via its MVNO with Rogers, adding 5,468 new customers in the quarter, outpacing the growth recorded in the same quarter of 2008 (4,700) and bringing total activated lines to 73,483 (an addition of less than 20,000 over the past 24 months).
The company is continuing the build-out of its wireless network, spending up to $1 billion in this major project over the next four years (including the several hundred million spent on spectrum). Videotron has reached roaming agreements with wireless providers Rogers Communications Inc. (“Rogers”) and T-Mobile USA, Inc., enabling it to provide future customers with advanced wireless services throughout the two providers’ service areas in Canada and the U.S.
The Company has also reached tower-sharing agreements with Rogers and Bell Mobility for a number of sites in Québec and the Ottawa area, allowing Videotron to build out its network at anticipated cost, says the press release.
“The company welcomes these new partnerships, which will equip us to offer our future customers wireless services across Canada and the U.S.,” said Dépatie. “The tower-sharing agreements will benefit both Videotron and the general public by limiting the proliferation of new sites.”
