Freedom Mobile serious in its intention to be fourth player, Péladeau tells CTS

TORONTO – The head of Quebecor Inc. came out swinging against the Big Three at the Canadian Telecom Summit Monday as Pierre Karl Péladeau vowed to make his Freedom Mobile division a strong competitor in the wireless market. The president and CEO of the Quebec company delivered a keynote address to the annual confab. He praised the actions of successive industry ministers for fostering a climate that has seen competition grow in the sector. He cited the late Jim Prentice, part of Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, who brought in the first regulations that opened up the market. Even though he is a former leader of the sovereigntist Parti Québécois, he also had kind words for the current industry minister, federalist Liberal François-Philippe Champagne, who took part in a fireside chat immediately before Péladeau. “He’s been very important for Canada,” the Montreal businessman asserted. “He’s a champion of competition.” Quebecor bought Freedom Mobile from Shaw Communications as part of the divestiture required by the Rogers Communications Inc. takeover. It has been fast off the mark in rolling out service as a fourth national wireless carrier. Péladeau said the firm has been upgrading its network and currently reaches about 80 per cent of the population. Even though it has ambitions to be a facilities-based provider, it still must operate as a mobile virtual network operator until then. “We need to build a network. But we cannot build the network in a New York minute,” he stated. “You need to build a network in the time frame necessary.” He predicted it would take seven years to fulfill the facilities mandate and denied that Quebecor was speculating on the price of the spectrum it has purchased. “We’re going to build because we’re going to meet our conditions,” he said. “Second, it would be stupid to continue to pay for roaming.” “We’re not parasites here,” he continued. “We’re not going to be on other people’s network and do things that are not going to create value.” He criticized the established players for their excessive roaming and connectivity charges, accusing the Big Three of selling internet access at a loss and offering customers better prices than what third-party internet providers pay. He also pointed out that larger players are buying their smaller competitors, acknowledging that Quebecor did the same thing when it purchased VMedia in 2022. During the Competition Bureau’s case opposing the Shaw takeover, the bureau suggested that Quebecor was not equipped to handle Freedom Mobile. Events have shown that not to be the case, Péladeau stated. It has reduced prices faster than scheduled and is not operating as a stand-alone service. It recently opened stores in Manitoba and is working to secure market share in the prairie province. He pointed out that Quebecor recently filed an application with the Competition Bureau over wireless offerings at Loblaw Companies Ltd. He called on the CRTC to do more to foster competition in the telecom sector. Quebecor has locked out Videotron workers at its operations in Gatineau, Que. During Péladeau’s presentation, a group of union members demonstrated against the company in front of the Westin Harbour Castle Conference Centre where the summit is being held. More to come. – Reporting by Paul Park at ppark@thewirereport.ca

Freedom Mobile serious in its intention to be fourth player, Péladeau tells CTS

News | June 17, 2024

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Freedom Mobile serious in its intention to be fourth player, Péladeau tells CTS

News | June 17, 2024

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