Freedom Mobile to launch Manitoba wireless network in 2026
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/11/2025 (250 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Freedom Mobile will build a wireless network in Manitoba starting next year, following a promise the Toronto-headquartered company it made upon entering the province in 2024.
At the time, chief executive officer Pierre Karl Péladeau told the Free Press that Quebecor Inc. (Freedom’s parent company based in Montreal) would spend at least $200 million on such a network.
Freedom Mobile didn’t immediately answer questions about its announcement — the network’s construction — following a news release issued Monday afternoon.
Péladeau visited Winnipeg over the weekend to watch the Grey Cup final. He owns the Montreal Alouettes.
While in town, Péladeau met with Premier Wab Kinew to discuss the incoming wireless network construction and potential partnerships between Manitoba’s and Quebec’s film and television industry, the news release reads.
The network rollout will start in Winnipeg before expanding across the province. To date, Freedom has spent more than $35 million on wireless spectrum in Manitoba.
“More competition should lead to lower prices, so we welcome Freedom leaning into Manitoba,” Kinew said in the news release.
Freedom Mobile launched in Manitoba in spring 2024. It’s been operating as a mobile virtual network operator, meaning it pays Bell, Rogers and Telus a fee to lease access on their respective networks.
Hefty roaming fees led Freedom Mobile to seek arbitration from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. The fees kept Freedom from offering Manitobans a $34 per month plan for 50 gigabytes of data — the company would lose about $20 per month per subscriber, Péladeau said in June 2024.
However, the business has a wireless spectrum in Manitoba, allowing it to build its own network. Details about how long a network buildout will take weren’t answered by end of day Monday.
Quebecor, a media and telecommunications company, bought Freedom Mobile for $2.85 billion in 2023. Shaw Communications, the previous owner, has since been acquired by Rogers.
Péladeau said he and Kinew talked about collaborations between Manitoba-based productions and TVA, a Quebecor-owned broadcaster. Quebecor’s MELS campus — a film production hub — was also brought up in conversation.
“I am pleased by the openness and reception of these initiatives, which are priorities for both Quebecor and the Manitoba government,” Péladeau said in a news release.
Manitoba drew $378.1 million worth of film production in 2024-25, a Manitoba Film & Music report shows. Sixty-four projects began during the timeframe.
Quebecor reported revenue of $1.41 billion in its third quarter report this year. It’s a 1.1 per cent increase from the summer of 2024.
Quebecor’s average revenue per mobile user — including Freedom and Fizz, another mobile carrier — was $35.05 in the third quarter. The number dropped 1.8 per cent year-over-year; Freedom pointed to higher promotional discounts, lower overage revenues and “a change in the customer mix.”
Quebecor counts more than four million mobile customers.
Freedom Mobile has networks in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Shaw built the infrastructure.
gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com
Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.
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