Cogeco planning to launch wireless service in Canada soon, Perron states

Cogeco Inc. is barreling ahead with plans to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in Canada. The firm’s CEO expects the debut soon. “While we have not yet set an official launch date, it is safe to say that the timeline will be measured in quarters, not years,” Frédéric Perron told an analysts call on Friday, Nov. 1. The call was in response to Cogeco releasing its fourth quarter results for fiscal year 2024. In 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. For the three months ended Aug. 31, revenues were $768 million, up 0.3 per cent from the same period in 2023. Profits were $81.4 million, a 10 per cent drop from the previous year’s $90.5 million. These figures were above the guidance provided at the end of fiscal year 2023. For the complete 2024 fiscal year, revenues were $3.07 billion, a slight drop from the $3.08 billion of the previous year. That was a decline of 0.2 per cent. Profit was $349 million, a 0.2 per cent decrease from FY 2023’s $350 million. Capital expenditures were down for the quarter and the year. In Q4, net capex was $154 million, down 13.4 per cent from the previous year’s $178 million. For the year as a whole, capex was $642 million, a decrease of 8.6 per cent from $702 million the previous year. Perron was pleased with the results of a previously-revealed merger of Canadian and American operations. The savings accrued through the reorganization is being reinvested in the company, he added. The CEO was also delighted with the success of Cogeco’s AI Chatbot, which it is deploying in customer service. Over 80,000 client inquiries were handled in a year using the technology in Canada and the United States, he reported. Asked during the call about the company’s spectrum holdings, Perron stated that the MVNO deal does not feature outside spectrum, so Cogeco can use its own spectrum to facilitate service. The mid-band spectrum is very valuable, he added. “This gives us more degrees of freedom in the future on how we might want to use this spectrum,” the CEO said. ppark@thewirereport.ca

Cogeco planning to launch wireless service in Canada soon, Perron states

Telecom |
By Paul Park
| November 1, 2024

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Cogeco planning to launch wireless service in Canada soon, Perron states

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