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Cogeco Communications Inc. formally launched mobile service in parts of Ontario and Quebec on Wednesday, making it the latest entrant in Canada’s wireless market.
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For years, Cogeco has offered internet, video and wireline phone services across Canada and some U.S. states., with a current total of 1.6 million residential and business subscribers.
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“For almost 70 years, Cogeco has been deeply rooted in regional markets. The launch of Cogeco Mobile is not just a new chapter, it’s a bold declaration of our unwavering commitment to be a competitive force in Canada,” chief executive Frédéric Perron said in a press release.
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The expansion into wireless puts it head-to-head with telecom giants Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Communications Inc.
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The initial roll out will be available to new and existing Cogeco internet subscribers who have their own devices in 13 markets in the two provinces: Alma, Magog, Rimouski, Saint-Georges, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Sauveur, Sept-Îles and Trois-Rivières in Quebec and Brockville, Chatham, Cobourg, Cornwall and Welland in Ontario.
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Its introductory plans come with rollover data, no commitments, no activation fees and no overages, the company said.
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Cogeco first announced the Canadian launch during its third quarter earnings release on July 15.
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In a note, National Bank analyst Adam Shine said Cogeco has been exploring wireless on both sides of the border with the spring launch of Breezeline Mobile in the U.S. as a defensive move to bundle with internet and reduce churn in its cable business.
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Breezeline, the eighth-largest cable operator in the United States, provides internet, video and telephony services in 13 states.
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The Massachusetts-based subsidiary launched mobile phone service on May 2024 as a pay-as-you-go service with no term contracts or cancellation fees.
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The telco is leveraging a seven-year mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) regime that launched last year, he said. That policy by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission required incumbent telecoms Rogers, Bell, Telus and Saskatchewan Telecommunications to provide regional wireless carriers with access to their networks for a period of seven years.
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Cogeco’s mobility launch is being carried on TELUS’s wholesale wireless network.
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“In honouring our regulatory obligations, TELUS is enabling Cogeco’s wireless launch by providing wholesale access to our award-winning broadband wireless network,” TELUS chief executive Darren Entwistle said in a press release last week.
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“We’ll now wait to see how existing wireless operators in Canada react to (Cogeco’s) arrival on the scene with its introductory offers just as back-to-school gets going and incumbents talk about more discipline,” Shine wrote.
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