Shaw undercuts Big Three on iPhone pricing, Freedom Mobile to sell iPhone X for $0 upfront<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nOn a conference call with analysts, chief executive Brad Shaw said the company is \u201cabsolutely focused on growth businesses.\u201d He said the results show its wireless strategy to provide more data for less is working.<\/p>\n
Shaw also announced wins for Freedom\u2019s network and distribution, areas in which it lags the Big Three. It finished deploying a chunk of spectrum that will improve network quality and signed a deal with Loblaw Companies Ltd. to sell Freedom handsets and mobile plans at 100 locations starting as early as this week.<\/p>\n
A large portion of its subscriber additions came in December, when the Big Three offered unprecedented data deals that matched Freedom\u2019s offer of 10 gigabytes for $60 per month. The trio also reported high volumes of new customers given the promotions.<\/p>\n
Barclays analyst Phillip Huang upgraded Shaw to buy and increased its price target to $32 from $29 to reflect what he believes will be a \u201cnew phase of stronger multi-year growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe this is the inflection point for wireless,\u201d he noted to clients.<\/p>\n
But TD Securities analyst Vince Valentini questioned whether Shaw worried the numbers were \u201calmost too good in terms of shocking the incumbents,\u201d given Freedom lost customers when the Big Three retaliated in December. He asked whether Shaw was prepared for retaliation if it maintains its pace of growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe we\u2019re on a new and sustainable trajectory. We\u2019re confident in our growth potential,\u201d Freedom Mobile chief operating officer Paul McAleese said.<\/p>\n
McAleese cautioned investors not to expect that volume of subscriber additions every quarter, noting the importance of finally offering the iPhone in an incredible busy shopping season. He said Freedom had \u201crecord levels of customer retention\u201d that helped contribute as customers migrated from cheaper 3G plans to more expense plans on the LTE network. Indeed, average revenue per user increased 5.5 per cent to $38.43.<\/p>\n
Shaw president Jay Mehr said he believed the quarter was not a one-off, stating Freedom had \u201cgreat momentum and that he anticipates subscriber additions around 40,000 going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also pointed to regulatory decisions in Shaw\u2019s favour, namely the federal government\u2019s decision to set aside spectrum for smaller players in an upcoming auction and the telecom regulator\u2019s move to lower wholesale roaming rates.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is proceeding beautifully,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In a research note, Desjardins analyst Maher Yaghi said Shaw\u2019s strong wireless performance should get the spotlight, but that sustainability is crucial.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will be monitoring the results in the coming quarters to see if momentum in wireless is sustained \u2014 which is key to the long-term growth thesis,\u201d Yaghi wrote.<\/p>\n
While wireless grew, the quarter was lacklustre for wireline.<\/p>\n
Shaw lost 21,000 cable and satellite television subscribers and 10,000 telephone subscribers, more than expected on both counts. It added 5,600 internet customers, missing expectations of 13,000 additions.<\/p>\n
The company also posted a $417-million restructuring charge related to cutting a quarter of its workforce. Of the 3,300 employees departing over the next two years as part of a voluntary buyout program, 90 per cent work in the stagnating wireline division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Freedom Mobile added 93,500 wireless subscribers in the three months ended Feb. 28, doubling analysts’ estimates of 45,000 new customers and nearly tripling the volume it added in the same period last year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5113,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5112\/revisions\/5113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}