Quebecor limits Manitoba expansion plan, blames CRTC decision [Update]

Quebecor says a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) decision on access rates to the Telus wireless network is causing it to “suspend the launch of data-rich plans in Manitoba.”

In an arbitration decision from the CRTC posted this week, the commission sided with Telus over rates to access its network as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).

Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau said in a statement that the MVNO rates set by the CRTC and the regulated domestic roaming rates “are among the highest in the world.”

The company said that Canada’s regulated domestic roaming rates are up to six times higher than in Europe.

“Since this decision will increase our costs considerably, making our operations unprofitable, we will be forced to reconsider our pricing and our expansion into some regions of Canada. For example, we have no choice but to suspend the launch of data-rich plans in Manitoba, just as we were preparing to offer our services there,” said Péladeau.

Quebecor clarified to MobileSyrup in an email that it still plans to expand its telecommunications services in Manitoba but that the expansion will “now include less data-rich wireless plans.”

Given that Quebecor’s Fizz brand recently launched plans in Manitoba, the “data-rich” plans in question are likely for Freedom Mobile, which Quebecor acquired as part of the Rogers-Shaw merger last year.

Update 04/24/2024 at 2:29pm ET: Added clarification from Quebecor about its Manitoba expansion plans and updated the headline accordingly.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Quebecor, CRTC