Quebecor Inc. posted a third-quarter net income of $302.6 million, fueled by a record addition of 136,700 net mobile lines. CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau attributed this success to a pricing strattegy that avoids hiking rates for existing customers while expanding the company's footprint across Canada.
The 136,700-line surge since 2010
Quebecor Inc. has achieved its largest quarterly increase in subscriber connections since it first entered the mobile market in 2010. According to The Canadian Press, the company's total revenue rose to $1.45 billion in the third quarter of 2025, up from $1.41 billion the previous year. This growth was distributed across the Videotron, Freedom, and Fizz brands, reflecting a successful push into new geographic markets.
Financial metrics indicate a healthy upward trend in user value. The monthly average mobile revenue per user for Quebecor Inc. reached $36.08, a 2.9 per cent increase year-over-year. This rise was driven by a combination of fewer promotional discounts and a migration of users toward more expensive service plans.
How the CRTC's June fee ban penalized Rogers and Bell
A significant tailwind for Quebecor Inc. came from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), which banned activation, cancellation, and modification fees in June. As reported by The Canadian Press, while major competitors like Rogers and Bell saw revenue declines due to the loss of these fees, Quebecor Inc. remained unaffected because its brands had already avoided such charges.
This regulatory shift has created a stark divide in corporate strategy. While Bell, Rogers, and Telus have resisted the ban—introducing new fees that the CRTC suggests may violate the rules—Quebecor Inc. has used the moment to position itself as a customer-friendly alternative. The CRTC is currently reviewing these disputes and could impose monetary penalties of up to $10 million on companies found in violation.
Freedom Mobile's push into Alberta and British Columbia
Quebecor Inc. is aggressively expanding its 5G network presence in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. A key component of this growth is the use of the CRTC's mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) framework, which allows Freedom Mobile to offer services via the networks of rival carriers in areas where it has not yet built its own infrastructure.
This framework provides a strategic bridge for Freedom Mobile, though it comes with a strict deadline: the company must build its own physical networks in these regions within seven years. This approach allows Quebecor Inc. to capture market share immediately while deferring the full cost of infrastructure deployment.
The premium on Quebecor's stock and the population growth drag
Despite being labeled the most expensive stock in the Canadian telecom sector, Quebecor Inc. continues to attract investor confidence... Desjardins analyst Jerome Dubreuil noted that Quebecor Inc. is the only member of the "Big 4" carriers showing positive average revenue per user (ARPU) growth, even as slow national population growth hinders the broader industry.
However, several critical questions remain regarding the long-term sustainability of this trajectory. It is unclear how Quebecor Inc. will manage the capital expenditure required to meet the seven-year network build-out mandate for its MVNO expansion .. Furthermore, the report does not detail how the company plans to maintain its "no price increase" pledge if infrastructure costs spike or if rivals launch aggressive counter-pricing campaigns to stop the subscriber bleed.
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