Quebecor is calling its 2022 “historic” as it led to Videotron’s acquisition of Freedom Mobile. The breakthrough in Canada has been made, but it remains to be seen how the company will access the country’s mobile networks.
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“This is just the beginning,” said CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau at the annual general meeting on Thursday.
The $2.85 billion transaction was completed last month on the condition, among other things, that current prices in the Canadian market be reduced by about 20% over a 10-year period.
Videotron now has 3.5 million customers in Canada, with 1.7 million in Quebec and the remainder primarily in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario.
A matter of networks…
The question, Mr Péladeau repeated on Thursday, is how the Bell and Telus networks will be shared.
Because to provide quality service and attract customers in Canada, Freedom devices must be able to roam from one network to another to avoid signal loss.
The agreement with Rogers is practically complete. “These agreements [d’opérateurs de réseaux virtuels mobiles, ou MVNO] are essential to ensure Freedom Mobile’s profitability. “Our arguments before the CRTC are anything but far-fetched,” said Quebecor’s big boss on Thursday.
Videotron’s discussions with Bell and Telus are ongoing and could result in arbitration before the CRTC this summer.
… and price
These agreements will be critical to Freedom’s pricing strategy. The company is currently offering a $39 package plus taxes for 20 gigabytes of data in the LTE network (all you can call and text).
Mr. Péladeau declined to comment on the pricing Freedom will offer, nor on Videotron’s projections for the company’s first year of operation.
“As we say in French: stay tuned,” he joked.
First Quarter Results
Quebecor also announced its financial results for the first three months of 2023 on Thursday.
TVA Group’s difficulties continue to weigh on otherwise positive results. Revenue was $1.12 billion, up 2.5%.
Adjusted operating income also rose to $442.8 million.
It was the company’s last quarterly report before the Freedom Mobile business was integrated into the balance sheet.