By Ahmad Hathout
Quebecor on Thursday reported its telecom division added over 300,000 new wireless customers, which its CEO attributed to a steadfast strategy of providing attractive low-cost plans after the acquisition of Freedom Mobile.
Videotron ended the quarter on June 30 with a total of 3.9 million subscribers, up from the roughly 3.6 million it had by the end of the same quarter last year — which also included the Freedom Mobile subscriber base, purchased in April 2023.
“There will be nothing stopping us,” Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau declared on a second-quarter conference call Thursday, referencing the year-over-year increase of…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Rogers is asking for the CRTC’s assistance in breaking an impasse in which the cable company and the city of Ottawa cannot come to an agreement on certain terms for a new municipal access agreement (MAA).
The parties have been working since their previous 10-year MAA expired at the end of 2020 to resolve particular issues related to matters primarily centered on the cost of relocation.
Rogers writes in its Part 1 application, made public on Friday, that the parties have agreed on many terms of the new MAA, including that relocation costs – with some exceptions – should…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Bell CEO Mirko Bibic said Thursday that 41 per cent of the company’s new internet subscribers in the second quarter also purchased a wireless plan, which is a testament, he said, to the attraction of the telecom’s fibre product.
Compared to last year’s second quarter, the company also saw an 18-per-cent increase in households bundling wireless and internet bundles where the company has fibre.
“We’re seeing very good bundling success, and that’s adding to the lifetime value of customers,” Bibic said. “Fibre continues to be the growth engine of Bell on the wireline side, and frankly, if you look…
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By Ahmad Hathout
Videotron’s Freedom Mobile announced Thursday all monthly plans will now include access to its 5G network and roaming in the United States and Mexico – including new low-cost options starting at $5 per month after a digital discount is applied.
With the $5 monthly digital discount applied across all plans, Freedom subscribers can now start at a mere $5 per month to get access to the next-generation network and roaming in the U.S. and Mexico with 100 MB of data, two hours of talk and unlimited texting. At $20, they can get 3 GB of data with two…
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Quebecor’s Freedom Mobile announced Tuesday the expansion of its service area to 50 more cities and communities across B.C. and Alberta, made possible by partner agreements enabled by the CRTC’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) framework, according to a press release.
New additions to Freedom’s serviceable area include Chilliwack, Hope, Revelstoke and Salmon Arm in B.C., and Camrose, Wetaskiwin and Edson in Alberta. A full list of the new areas, including current subscription areas that now have additional coverage, can be found here. Freedom’s updated coverage map is here.
Freedom…
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By Ahmad Hathout
The Federal Court has granted a fresh website-blocking order that will force broadcasters to block websites streaming different sports league matches for next season.
The July 9 order draws on previous site-blocking precedent but deviates in that it is being applied to multiple sports in a single order. It also applies a permanent ban on the defendants from broadcasting the unlicensed content, though the reason for the site-blocking order in the first place is because said defendants, who can operate from abroad, have historically not stopped the activity.
As such, the order captures all live pre- and regular season…
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By Ahmad Hathout
A consortium of large cable companies is blasting a proposal by Telus to significantly increase its pole attachment rate in British Columbia and Alberta, saying it will unjustly cost third parties millions of dollars in extra payments annually.
In April, Telus filed a proposal to increase its rate per pole by just over 50 per cent, from $19.33 annually, or $1.61 monthly, to $29.83, or $2.49 per month. It said it needs to do this because of significant cost increases since the last approved tariff in 2010, which include a faster-than-average replacing of existing poles and increased costs…
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CMF contributes an additional $150K in export assistance
The Quebecor Fund board of directors last week announced funding for two projects under its Film Production Assistance Program and for one business model under its Export Assistance Program, the latter also receiving funding from the Canada Media Fund (CMF).
In this round of Quebecor Fund’s Film Production Assistance Program, a total of $399,000 has been awarded to producer Productions Rakonti Inc. (Amalga Créations Médias Inc. and Les Films du Lac Inc.) and distributor Immina Films for the first project, and producer Amérique Film and distributor Maison 4:3 Inc. for…
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The Canada Media Fund (CMF) last week announced a new chair and the appointment of a new director to its board.
Michael Schmalz has been elected as chair of the board, succeeding outgoing chair Alain Cousineau, who left the board of directors after an 11-year tenure.
Appointed as a CMF board director by the Department of Canadian Heritage in 2017, Schmalz resides in London, Ont., is fully bilingual, and brings more than 17 years of experience in the digital media industry, with a focus on gaming innovation.
René Guimond has been appointed…
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Quebecor’s Videotron said Friday it has fulfilled all of its commitments to the federal government when it acquired Freedom Mobile.
The commitments were that it maintain Freedom’s pricing and to add data, which it said were fulfilled within two months of the closing of the acquisition in April 2023; that it offer competitive pricing, the result of which contributed to a lowering of wireless prices broadly as per Statistics Canada data; make uniform the plan prices for both Videotron and Freedom in Quebec, which it said it went above and beyond by lower prices and increasing data;…
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