By Ken Kelley
TORONTO – Cogeco president and CEO Philippe Jetté said Wednesday he believes the company’s own network advancements are the key to helping fend off Bell’s fibre expansion throughout southern Ontario.
Jetté (above) told the TD Securities Telecom and Media Conference (held online), the company isn’t yet seeing any material impact stemming from Bell’s Fibe rollout in cities like Hamilton, where the two are in direct competition with one another.
“In terms of overlap, Bell isn’t moving fast,” Jetté said. “We’ve seen them take 1% of the fiber-based network. We aren’t too concerned about their progress in these areas, as we’re progressing as well and continuing to push fibre close to the home.”
While virtually all ISPs in Canada have seen increased traffic and strain on their networks since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis, Jetté said Cogeco is no exception and has seen an approximate 25% increase in usage during peak hours. “We always provision for certain degree of extra capacity,” he said. “The network is at full utilization, but customers are still receiving service. We’ve seen both new customers signing up for service while others are upgrading the level of their internet service.”
Asked if Cogeco has seen a significant number of customers downgrading or cutting services due to financial constraints relating to Covid-19, Jetté said it’s been more of a factor on the company’s commercial business, which he said accounts for approximately 10% of overall revenue.
“We’ve seen hotels and restaurants primarily dial back their service due to the pandemic. There has also been a temporary reduction in sports-related subscriptions and packages as well. Overall, those losses are being offset by gains in internet so our revenue mix is actually slightly improved.”
When it comes to wireless, a line of business Cogeco is perennially said to be interested in but has never launched (although it does own some spectrum) Jetté said he’s confident logic will ultimately prevail whenever the CRTC’s decision on mandated MVNOs, stemming from its wireless policy review hearing, may be handed down.
“If you look back at the start of the process, the CRTC was looking to increase competition in both regional and rural areas. There remains a need for a regulatory framework to create more competition and better choices for consumers. The three MNO’s hold 90% of the market and aren’t willing to negotiate fair agreements. We proposed a model that we think is fair but for it to work, we require access to low-band frequencies via wholesale mandates and the current framework doesn’t allow for the purchase or fair use of spectrum. We need a change for regional and rural markets that will ultimately serve everyone’s interests,” Jetté said.
“As a company, we aren’t dependent on our wireless ambition. We can continue to grow our business without it, but it would be nice to have another product in our portfolio.”
