Telus CFO says execs meeting with potential tower infrastructure stakeholders in next couple weeks

Telus Corp. CFO Doug French said Wednesday, May 14 that he is meeting with a short list of parties interested in buying a minority stake in the telecom’s wireless tower infrastructure soon. French told attendees of the TD Securities Telecom and Media Conference that those meetings are happening in the next couple of weeks, “making sure that we progress this quickly and answer all the questions that they need…” The company in March confirmed its plan to sell a minority stake in wireless tower infrastructure as it looks to pay down its debt. As of that time, the company said it had been working “for several months” with advisors to strengthen its balance sheet, including the plan for its cellular towers. French said there are some “excellent partners” at the table and lauded the potential for the party selected to make money off the arrangement, which sees Telus retain control of the towers. The entity with the minority stake will be run by an independent leader of that business with the intent to grow its business, French said. That entity would make its money by leasing access to the infrastructure to telecom providers. “New entrants have to build their networks for the next five years… If Rogers has a tower I can share, I’m going to go jump on their tower. I don’t want to build my own as much anymore and the same should go the other way…,” French said Wednesday. French believes the yet-to-be-selected stakeholder will see more and more telecom providers using it over time, “and I think that is what you’re going to see in our industry to help bring down the overall cost structure.” The arrangement is similar to one announced by Rogers last year. In October, Rogers eventually said it intended to sell a minority stake in part of its wireless backhaul infrastructure in a $7-billion-deal. For the 12 months ended March 31, Telus had net debt of $28.68 billion. It reported long-term debt of $28.72 billion. Dividends went up seven per cent to 21 cents at the end of the first quarter of 2025, a hike from nine cents in Q1 2024. CEO Darren Entwistle anticipates three- to eight-per-cent growth in dividends from 2026 to 2028. That is a contrast to Bell, which slashed its dividend last week. Operating revenues from customer contracts in Q1 2025 came in at $5.01 billion, compared to Q1 2024’s $4.86 billion. Operating revenues and other income registered at $5.05 billion, up from $4.93 billion a year earlier. Both categories showed a three per cent increase year-to-year. Operating expenses were $4.3 billion, down one per cent from 2024’s $4.35 billion. This left a net profit of $301 million in Q1 2025, a jump from Q1 2024 profit of $140 million. The company did not disclose its anticipated sale price when it made its March announcement. The Globe and Mail reported Telus hired TD Securities to work on pitching institutional investors and tower owners on a 49.9 per cent stake in the infrastructure, citing unnamed sources. The outlet reported the company was looking at an estimated $1-billion-plus price tag on the proposed 49.9 per cent stake in its cell tower network. New federal cabinet must address competition issues, says Cogeco CEO Telus’ French was asked what he expects from newly appointed federal Minister of Industry Mélanie Joly (Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Que.), he said it’s “too early to tell” what tone the new Liberal government is taking. Cogeco Inc. CEO Frédéric Perron appeared at the same event Wednesday and appealed to the new cabinet to address competition in the telecom sector. Perron said that while Cogeco was generally supportive of smaller players entering the market by accessing competitor networks to offer their services to customers to increase competition, it has become an issue that bigger players such as Telus, Rogers, and BCE Inc. are able to use that regime as well. “That’s wrong. That kills investment and it’s not the right thing,” Perron said. “I would really appeal to the new cabinet to take action on that…something has to be done and we’re appealing to them to do something about it.” READ MORE: -- CRTC will not change temporary wholesale decision; final decision still on the table Otherwise, Perron said the company is on track in its wireless service roll-out in Canada. He said Cogeco has seen more interested than initially expected, coming from customers in Quebec and Ontario. The company has successfully tested end-to-end calls on the system, he said. Last August, the company announced it had entered into an agreement with Bragg Communications Inc.’s Eastlink and an unnamed national telecom firm to roll out as an MVNO. Cogeco has been vocal about its plans to launch wireless service in Canada in coming months but has not been specific about when that would occur. Perron said Wednesday the company has not missed a milestone. In November, Perron said “it is safe to say that the timeline will be measured in quarters, not years.” Cogeco in April reported profit for the second quarter of 2025 dropped by 17.5 per cent to almost $79.64 million, compared to $96.56 million the year prior. Overall revenue was nearly flat compared to the second quarter of 2024, rising to more than $732.42 million as of Feb. 28, 2025 from $730.5 million. Canadian revenue at Cogeco Communications during the most recent quarter was $370.21 million — down 0.9 per cent from $373.48 million, while operating expenses were nearly $177.72 million. In the U.S., revenues hit $362.21, up 1.5 per cent from $357 million the year prior. hdaley@thewirereport.ca with files from Paul Park

Telus CFO says execs meeting with potential tower infrastructure stakeholders in next couple weeks

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By Hannah Daley
|May 14, 2025

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Telus confirms plan to sell minority stake in wireless tower network

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