MONTREAL – Videotron and Rogers announced an agreement late Wednesday to bring LTE to even more customers in the province of Québec and the Ottawa region.
Under a new 20-year agreement, the two companies will pool their efforts to quickly build out and operate a shared LTE wireless network, the most advanced wireless technology in the world. This network will deliver an optimal user experience for consumers and businesses in both key markets (and perhaps let Videotron launch the iPhone, which does not work on its current AWS spectrum).
In addition to the network sharing agreement, Videotron and Rogers have also come to an agreement regarding Videotron’s unused AWS spectrum in the Greater Toronto Area. Videotron will have the option to transfer its Toronto spectrum licence to Rogers, subject to regulatory approvals, beginning January 1, 2014 for a price of $180 million. (Rogers paid for a similar option for unused spectrum whose rights are owned by Shaw Communications, a move which has caused much consternation on Parliament Hill.)
“Data usage is exploding and customers want to continue to enjoy the fastest possible speeds and throughput. Our plan is to put this unused spectrum to use to meet this demand, especially in a dense urban area, like Toronto,” said Rogers president and CEO Nadir Mohamed.
As part of the overall agreement, Rogers and Videotron will each provide each other with services for which Rogers will receive $200 million and Videotron $93 million, payable over a period of 10 years.
This announcement builds on Rogers LTE footprint across Canada, including Montreal, Ottawa and Québec City – and the fast-paced rollout of LTE infrastructure will position the two companies to meet the steadily growing needs of consumers and businesses, ensuring many more can enjoy incredibly fast speeds, throughput and take advantage of the latest and greatest LTE enabled devices, says the joint release.
"This agreement will benefit businesses and consumers and is part of Rogers focused, strategic game plan," added Mohamed. "This network and spectrum sharing agreement, combined with the expansion of our LTE footprint, will allow even more consumers to experience the superior connectivity and incredibly fast speeds that LTE delivers.”
“This is excellent news for our customers and our shareholders,” added Robert Dépatie, president and CEO of Quebecor and CEO of Videotron. “This agreement will enable us to go farther and to do it faster and is indicative of our determination to anticipate our customers’ needs and to maintain the close relationship we have built with them.”
While the companies will share the cost of deploying and operating a shared LTE network, delivering operating savings for both, Videotron and Rogers will maintain their business independence, including their product and service portfolios, billing systems and customer data.
In addition to increasing network performance, this agreement will expand mobile coverage more quickly in rural Québec, helping to reduce the urban-rural digital divide. “These improvements will directly enhance the competitiveness of Québec businesses and help meet the demand for more powerful mobile services. In this sense, all of Québec and the Ottawa region will benefit from this agreement. The agreement we have reached will enable us and Rogers alike to make more efficient use of our spectrum, and to derive maximum benefit from our investments,” said Dépatie in the release. “The required capital expenditures will be less than if the two companies would have built out parallel LTE access networks.”
www.rogers.com
www.videotron.com
