BCE Inc. reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of $630 million as its operating revenue rose 2.2 per cent from a year ago. The company says the profit amounted to 67 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30. The result compared with a profit of $4.50 billion or $4.84 per share a year ago when the company sold its minority stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment to rival Rogers Communications Inc. On an adjusted basis, BCE said it earned 74 cents per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 79 cents per share in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue totalled $6.18 billion, up from $6.05 billion a year earlier. Last month, BCE announced a deal to sell a 49.9 per cent stake of a new company that will own and operate its wireless towers to Quebec investment manager La Caisse for $2.45 billion. The company said business markets revenue — comprised of income from both telecom and AI services — was $1.12 billion in the quarter, up 9.2 per cent from $1.03 billion a year ago. It said that encompassed 41 per cent growth of AI-powered solutions revenue, driven by strong demand for its Ateko and Bell Cyber brands. On the telecom side, BCE had a net gain of 24,110 postpaid mobile phone subscribers in its third quarter, up from 11,511 net activations during the same period a year earlier. It said the year-over-year gain reflected more customers transitioning from prepaid service, new subscribers from reaching a long-term government-sector mobile services contract, and lower customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service. Postpaid customer churn was 1.06 per cent, an improvement from 1.13 per cent a year ago and Bell’s lowest level for the third quarter in four years. Bell cited lower market activity and its continued focus on customer service and retention. “In the year since our Investor Day 2025, Bell’s Q3 results show responsible investment in key growth areas and steadfast execution of our long-term priorities,” said BCE president and CEO Mirko Bibic in a news release. “Fibre and wireless continue to drive growth.” BCE’s mobile phone average revenue per user was $57.07, down 1.7 per cent from $58.04 a year ago. It said that decrease was due to multiple factors, including the CRTC’s prohibition on certain customer fees, which took effect in June. The regulator’s ban on activation, cancellation and modification fees have been met with resistance from Bell, along with Rogers and Telus, which have each introduced fees that the CRTC said could violate the new ban. The CRTC is in the midst of a review and said that if it determines the companies have violated the rules, they could face monetary penalties of up to $10 million. Bell also cited lower overage revenue from customers subscribing to unlimited and larger capacity data plans, along with lower international roaming revenue as customers both travel less and increasingly subscribe to plans that include U.S. and international roaming. --- CTV News, CP24 and BNN Bloomberg are owned by Bell Media, which is a division of BCE. Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2026.
