Québecor is ready to expand its mobile services outside of Quebec.
Company CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau expressed the sentiment during a conference call Thursday following the release of the company’s fourth quarter 2022 financial results.
“Our plans are drawn and we are ready to go, ready to create real, lasting competitive dynamics in Ontario and Western Canada,” Péladeau told analysts. “This project represents a springboard to a new era (of goals) for Quebecor.”
The company runs Fizz Mobile, a digital wireless provider, under subsidiary Vidéotron. The company is also hoping to acquire Freedom Mobile under a $2.85-billion deal with Shaw and Rogers. It’s unclear if Freedom and Fizz will merge in any way if the company is successful in its acquisition attempts.
Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne must provide Québecor, Rogers, and Shaw with approval before the move can be finalized. The side deal is cardinal to Rogers’ $26-billion takeover of Shaw.
Champagne previously stated his conditions for approval include Vidéotron keeping the wireless licenses it acquires for 10 years and dropping wireless bills for Ontario and Western Canada residents by 20 percent.
“As ISED reviews the transaction, we reiterate our determination to attack Canada’s telecommunications oligopoly and our commitment to creating a competitive landscape that will lower the relatively high prices Canadians are still paying, as we have been doing in Québec for more than 12 years,” Péladeau said in a press release detailing the financial results.
Québecor made $1.19 billion in revenue in Q4 2022, a 0.1 percent increase year-over-year.
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