Cogeco scaling up wireless service as it reports higher Q2 profit

The Cogeco logo is seen in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

MONTREAL — Cogeco Inc. says it continues to scale up its nascent wireless service in Canada while seeking to skirt recent price wars between the industry’s major players.

Chief executive Frédéric Perron said the company’s mobile service, which launched last summer, is being targeted toward lower-data users, which shields it from some competitive pressures associated with large bundle offers.

“As it relates to our wireless efforts in Canada, our sales have actually been slightly ahead of plan,” Perron said Friday on a conference call, as the Montreal-based telecommunications company reported its second-quarter earnings.

“We’re quite insulated from all the noise happening between the Big Three or now the Big Four in wireless in Canada.”

Perron pointed to a differentiated model for Cogeco’s wireless business, noting that the company is offering the service to existing wireline customers across its broadband footprint in Ontario and Quebec.

“We cross-sell to our existing customers in a more rurally skewed footprint. We also target lower-data users, which we’re doing successfully,” he said.

“We’re doing our own thing, but we’re not fighting in the excessively large data bundles that customers don’t need and we are doing just fine.”

Its coverage is being delivered under the mobile virtual network operator framework, which allows telecoms to offer cellphone service through rival carriers’ networks.

The MVNO framework was put in place by the CRTC. The rules set by the regulator are meant to increase cellphone competition by giving regional carriers a presence in regions they did not previously serve, with requirements to build their own networks in those areas within seven years.

Cogeco reported a $79.8 million profit during its second quarter, rising about four per cent from $76.6 million last year. On a per diluted share basis, its earnings amounted to $1.97 compared with $1.88 during the same period a year earlier.

Cogeco’s revenue came in at $713 million for the period ended Feb. 28, falling more than five per cent year-over-year from $753.2 million.

The company also updated its guidance, lowering its expected revenue and adjusted earnings before deductions for the 2026 fiscal year, citing higher pressure on its U.S. internet subscriber revenue.

Its American telecommunications’ revenue decreased 11.6 per cent year-over-year, mainly due to a lower subscriber base compared with the previous year. The company also cited a higher proportion of customers subscribing to internet-only services, as well as a competitive pricing environment.

“The combination of churned existing internet customers and loading lower (average revenue per user) customers with aggressive multi month free offers, has slowed momentum in the U.S. business,” said Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi in a note.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2026.