TORONTO – The opportunity for growth on the data side of the wireless business is huge, says Rogers Communications president and COO Nadir Mohamed.
While overall wireless penetration is headed to 70% in Canada in the not-too-distant future, growth in data is just beginning, he told a BMO Capital Markets telecom and media conference on Tuesday.
“Data is fairly new in terms of where we’re at in the country,” he said. “We’re the leaders, where let’s say that 15% of our revenue comes from data but we think there’s a ton of opportunity.
“If you look at the wired Internet side… Internet penetration is 70%-plus. I see absolutely no reason why on wireless, Internet connectivity shouldn’t replicate what’s happened on the wired side.”
The biggest difference will be the sheer speed. The hard-wired Internet took more than a decade to hit 70%, but “the time to get to 70% (data) penetration on wireless is going to be dramatically shorter than on wireline,” said Mohamed.
“We tend to get all caught up on the existing pie, the historical pie," he continued, “which is overall wireless penetration going well over 70% penetration… so, yes, there’s great upside on voice, but don’t lose sight of the great new opportunity in data.”
– Greg O’Brien
