Bell and Telus being “difficult” in MVNO negotiation: PKP

Quebecor Inc.’s efforts to reach all wholesale and MVNO access agreements with BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. has proved to be difficult according to the company’s president and CEO. Pierre Karl Péladeau made the comment Thursday on a fourth quarter conference call with industry analysts. “I have to be honest, our negotiations are difficult to say the least. There’s been little progress after nearly two years following the CRTC’s decision mandating MVNO access,” Péladeau said. The CEO said he is not surprised by the lack of progress and accused the two incumbents of engaging in delay tactics. Péladeau called on the CRTC’s new leadership, steered by chair Vicky Eatrides, to ensure a quick resolution in line with the new directions received from the Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne. The finalized directives to the CRTC include a mandate to achieve real competition in the telecom market. Péladeau said the company remains committed to facilities-based competition. The company is continuing its plans to increase its wireless service capacity in Quebec and expansion of its wireless infrastructure outside the province. In January Videotron announced an investment of nearly $10 million the acquisition of spectrum licences in the 600 MHz band in Manitoba and in the 3500 MHz band in Quebec. The acquisition was made in the auction of residual spectrum licences. Péladeau did not have much update on his company’s acquisition of Shaw Communication Inc.’s Freedom Mobile as it is still pending approval by Champagne. “This transaction represents a springboard to a new era of growth for Quebecor after an impressive run in telecom and wireless growth since our acquisition of Videotron in 2000,” he said. Profits for the company dipped by 15 per cent compared to last year’s fourth quarter. In Q4 2021 Quebecor raked in $164.5 million compared to $142.5 million this year. Péladeau called on the CRTC to lighten the regulatory burden of Canadian news companies, which he said “are operating in an increasingly precarious environment and are quite frankly, struggling to stay afloat.” He also called for the “swift adoption” of Bill C-18, the Online News Act. The company's profitability dip was in part due to TVA Group which continues to be impacted by the downward trend in television audiences. Péladeau blamed the trend on multinational subscription video-on-demand services, such as Netflix Inc., Amazon Inc.'s Prime, Walt Disney Co.'s Disney Plus, and on CBC/Radio-Canada. He said the French-language service is “engaging in a rating race that is not within its mandate” and is taking a large share of advertising revenues over and above the fees it charges for a subscription to Ici TOU.TV. Quebecor’s revenue remained flat. This year the company racked in almost $1.19 billion compared to 1.18 billion last year. The sports and entertainment segment also saw a slight increase from $53.2 million last year to $54.1 million this year. The media segment grew revenue by 1.5 per cent, from $212.4 million to $215.4 million. The telecommunications segment reported $960 million in revenue in its fourth quarter, less than a one per cent increase from the $953.1 million reported this time last year. Mobile and internet saw the largest revenue increases, at 7.8 per cent and six per cent respectively. Quebecor reported $200 million in revenue for mobile and $319.6 million in revenue for internet. Wireline equipment sales dropped by 68.1 per cent, bringing in only $17.8 million compared to $55.8 million last year. The average revenue per user (ARPU) for its mobile customers saw an $0.11 increase this year to $39.08. Total ARPU increased from $47.07 to $47.63 year-over-year. Quebecor added 24,600 revenue-generating units (RGUs) this quarter for a total of 6.3 million. That is 18,400 less subscribers than it added this time last year. Mobile subscribers increased by 13,100 additions for a total of 1.7 million RGUs. In Q4 2021 Quebecor managed to rake in more than double the amount of subscribers with 30,600 additions. Quebecor brought in six times more internet subscribers in Q4 2021 than it did this quarter. Last year saw 8,100 new internet additions. This year the company reported only 1,300 additions for a total of 1.9 million. Television RGUs have been on a steady decline in recent years, although this year Quebecor managed to lose less customers. In Q4 2021 it saw a decline of 9,400 subscribers. This year the company lost 6,000 subscribers. Quebecor now has less than 1.4 million television customers. – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

Bell and Telus being “difficult” in MVNO negotiation: PKP

Broadcast | February 23, 2023

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