Cogeco’s IPTV service in beta testing, but no start date

There’s no firm timeframe for when Cogeco Inc. will roll out its new IPTV service, despite the cableco previously telling investors it would become available in 2019. Cogeco’s CEO Phillipe Jetté said on a quarterly earnings call with investors that it was making “good progress” with the development of the IPTV platform and had begun a beta launch, but stopped short of announcing when the service would be released in Canada. “We will progressively launch the service once the development phase is completed,” Jetté said Wednesday. Cogeco initially set the platform launch for 2019 when it announced it would be going with the MediaFirst platform in 2018. Jetté also told investors in July last year that the service would be launched to the whole of Cogeco’s Canadian footprint by the end of 2019. Cogeco reported $618.5 million in revenue in the three months ending Aug. 31, a 1.8 per cent rise on the same quarter in 2018, or a 1.4 rise in constant currency (the company earns both Canadian and U.S. dollars). Its first quarter profit of $94,216 was a 19 per cent increase on the same quarter the previous year, which Cogeco credited mostly to growth in its American broadband sector, Its Canadian broadband revenue decreased by 0.5 per cent, which Jetté said was explained by a transition to a new customer management system and a competitive sales market that had lowered plan costs. Its revenues for Canadian cable services slowed, but Jetté said he expected low single figure growth towards the back end of the financial year, explaining the cableco had recently increased its investment in sales and marketing. Cogeco’s internet customers across Canada and the U.S. rose to 1.25 million, up 11,978 on the previous quarter, while its landline customers grew by 5,686, to 520,980. But customer bases for both fell compared to the same quarter in 2018, by 2,623 and 19,206 respectively. Its TV customers fell by 7,174 compared to the previous quarter, to 954,964, a drop of 17,622 on a year ago. Cogeco’s Atlantic Broadband subsidiary announced on Jan. 10 that it had purchased Thames Valley Communications in Connecticut, delivering 10,000 new customers. Jetté told the call Cogeco would continue to look at acquisition opportunities in the U.S to “accelerate our growth”. Jetté again expressed his support for a hybrid mobile network operator model to come out of the CRTC’s wireless review, which would allow market access for facilities-based providers like Cogeco. He said the model would safeguard investment in telecommunication networks while promoting innovation. “The HMNO model would allow Cogeco to gradually invest in wireless infrastructure as it grows its market penetration,” Jetté told analysts.

Cogeco’s IPTV service in beta testing, but no start date

Brief | January 15, 2020

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Cogeco’s IPTV service in beta testing, but no start date

Brief | January 15, 2020

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