MONTREAL – Fourth-quarter revenue climbed by $9.6 million, or 6.2%, over the same period last year at Cogeco Inc., but poor performance on the company’s broadcast TV side dragged down its overall results.
The improved penetration of high-speed Internet services (HSI) and higher rates for cable TV services are mainly responsible for this increase. Net income came in at $600,000, or $0.04 per share, compared to $2.1 million or $0.13 per share in the previous fiscal year. “The net income dropped due to a reduction in operating income before amortization in the media sector,” says today’s press release.
"Among the…
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MONTREAL – With published reports (including one here) saying that Cogeco is about to expand into Portugal through a major acquisition, CEO Louis Audet said this morning the company has actually looked into eight European expansion opportunities involving 10 countries.
Responding to what he called “rumors and speculation about alleged acquisition plans,” Audet read a prepared statement this morning about the company’s European expansion possibilities. He cautioned against advancing such theories and said he had nothing specific to announce.
“Wild speculation is never a good thing,” said the CEO during his quarterly conference call with financial analysts.
Noting that…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable announced today that it is adding Warner Bros programming to its video on demand service.
The cable company has signed an agreement with Warner Bros International Television Distribution (WBITD) to add new titles and classic movies.
WBITD will provide Cogeco Cable with box office hits such as Million Dollar Baby, Alexander, and soon Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Batman Begins and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as well as many other titles from its extensive library.
Cogeco Cable customers can now choose from over 1,000 hours of programming including new movies, classics and…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Digital Phone launches in Kingston, Ont. today.
“Like Burlington, Oakville and Windsor residents, Ontario, and with those in Trois-Rivières, Drummondville and Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, this appealing offer is available to the majority of Kingston residents starting today, whether or not they already subscribe to a Cogeco Cable service,” says the press release.
Service will be extended gradually to the rest of Kingston city homes and will continue to be rolled out to most cities in Cogeco Cable’s territories by the end of 2006 (look for the service to be available in Hamilton, the company’s biggest single market,…
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QUEBEC CITY – Cogeco Inc. CEO Louis Audet said Thursday that the time has come for the company’s cable division to revisit offering wireless service to its customers.
With EastLink and Access Communications selling Rogers Wireless service and with Videotron announcing this week that it will brand and sell its own service on the Rogers network, Audet was asked at the CIBC World Markets annual investors conference in Quebec City whether Cogeco was actively considering the service addition.
“We’ve looked at it twice already,” said Audet. “We had concluded this time that we would launch our voice over IP…
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Cogeco Cable and Videotron have signed a new multiyear distribution agreement with Speed Channel, the companies announced today. With Videotron reaching 1.4 million subscribers in Quebec and Cogeco Cable Canada Inc. 830,000 in both Ontario and Quebec, “Speed’s programming reaches as many fans in those areas as possible,” says today’s press release.
The U.S. channel also recently renewed with Rogers Cable, which included some video on demand. The Cogeco-Videotron release didn’t mention VOD content.
“The extension of these distribution deals with Videotron and Cogeco Cable firmly cements…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable is interested in buying into the Portuguese cable market, reports a newspaper there.
The Telecom Paper, (subscription required) a trade journal out of the Netherlands, says Portuguese business daily newspaper Jornal de Negócios reported last week that Cogeco is preparing a bid to purchase Portuguese cable operator Cabovisao.
Cabovisao, as some in the industry may know, is the primary asset of Cable Satisfaction International Inc., a cable company based in Montreal and launched by some former Videotron executives, that owned cable operations in Portugal and the Caribbean. CSII entered bankruptcy protection in 2003.
The Telecom…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable is extending its digital phone service to non-high speed Internet customers in Burlington, Oakville, and Windsor, Ont.
The VOIP service was launched on June 8 but was initially available only to customers who also subscribed to Cogeco’s high speed internet connection. The service was so popular, though, that the company decided to offer it on a standalone basis.
Residents in neighbourhoods served by Cogeco in the three Ontario cities can subscribe only to the VOIP starting at $54.99 a month. Those with a Cogeco high speed connection or cable television subscription will pay $49.99 a…
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MONTREAL – Cogeco Cable has launched its digital phone service in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que., the fifth community to receive it since the company started rolling out the service this June.
Starting today, Cogeco’s high-speed Internet customers in Saint-Hyacinthe can replace their traditional phone service with the cableco’s securely routed private network and keep their existing phone numbers, phones, and outlets.
Customers who already subscribe to Cogeco’s high speed and cable TV services can add the digital phone service for $39.99 a month, while those who get the Internet connection on a standalone basis can subscribe to the phone service for…
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WINDSOR – Cogeco Cable expanded its telephony territory in Ontario today with the launch of its Digital Phone service in Windsor, Ont.
This follows the launch this year in Burlington and Oakville, Ont., as well as Trois-Rivières and Drummondville, Québec.
The service is available to approximately 75% of Cogeco’s high speed Internet (HSI) customers in Windsor starting today. Service should soon be extended to the rest of Windsor city homes and will continue to be extended gradually to most cities in Cogeco Cable’s territories by the end of 2006.
The company’s Windsor-based HSI and cable television service subscribers can take…
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