Fizz still ‘minimal’ part of wireless for Videotron: CEO

The new Fizz flanker brand launched by Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron is still too small a part of the company’s business to significantly affect its average billing per user (ABPU), Videotron’s CEO said Thursday. “The impact of Fizz is minimal. We don’t have that many subscribers,” CEO Jean-François Pruneau said. He said the reason the company’s average billing per user (ABPU) dropped 1.4 per cent over the year to $52.50 was due to the growth of bring-your-own-device plans. Still, he acknowledged ABPU would have been higher if the company hadn’t extended discounts to Fizz customers to make up for technical issues customers experienced. But the new brand, launched in the fall of 2018, is making inroads among young urban-dwellers, with half of the new Fizz subscribers coming from Montreal, he told analysts on the company’s quarterly call. “So very, very urban,” he said. “Obviously very connected, so a younger audience. We kind of over-index in the 20 to 35 years old compared to our main brand, and more non-Francophones.” Pruneau was also asked about when the company would deploy the 600 MHz spectrum it picked up in the spectrum auction held earlier this year. “It will be very much tied with our deployment of 5G technology,” he said. “I certainly see before deploying the 600 MHz, maybe a year, maybe two years.” Quebecor reported $1.03 billion in revenues in the three months ending March 31, up from $1 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was $186.9 million, compared to $76.1 million in the first quarter of 2018, partly due to an increase in income due to discontinued operations. The company sold its data centre business early in the quarter. The revenue growth was driven largely by a $22 million increase in the Videotron telecom segment to $840.7 million. Media revenues were down by about $500,000 to $172.7 million. Quebecor said advertising revenues decreased $2.5 million “mainly because of lower advertising revenues at the newspapers, TVA Network and the magazines.” Videotron added 39,800 wireless subscribers in the quarter, more than the 23,300 it added in the same quarter a year earlier. That made for a total of 1.19 million at quarter end, and the company said the new subscriber growth drove wireless revenues up 12.4 per cent over the year, to $141.4 million. Videotron also added 6,300 internet subscribers in the quarter, for a total of 1.71 million at the end of the quarter. That’s fewer than the 8,100 internet customers it added in the same quarter last year. The company lost 14,700 TV subscribers -- 300 fewer than in Q1 of 2018 -- and ended the quarter with 1.58 million TV subscribers. It added 10,900 subscriptions to its Club Illico streaming service in the quarter, totalling 431,700 at the end of March. The service also saw a 16.2 per cent increase in revenues over the year to $12.9 million.

Fizz still ‘minimal’ part of wireless for Videotron: CEO

Brief | May 9, 2019

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Fizz still ‘minimal’ part of wireless for Videotron: CEO

Brief | May 9, 2019

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