Freedom Mobile makes presence known in Manitoba

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This article was published 06/06/2024 (486 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last month’s launch of Freedom Mobile in Manitoba has given Pierre Karl Péladeau, CEO of Quebecor Inc., his first excuse to be in Winnipeg since his company sold the Winnipeg Sun in 2015.

(That, and Thursday night’s 2024 CFL season-opening game between Montreal Alouettes — which he bought last year — and the hometown Blue Bombers.)

Péladeau was in good spirits in the afternoon, greeting people at the new Freedom Mobile kiosk at CF Polo Park (which will soon be moved into a storefront location in the shopping centre).

Manitoba became the first regional expansion for Freedom Mobile, the wireless company Quebecor acquired from the now-defunct Shaw Communications a year ago for $2.85 billion.

Freedom had already been operating in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, where its previous owner had already built out a network.

However, it does not have its own network in Manitoba and will operate as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in the Prairie province, paying Bell, Rogers and Telus a fee to lease access on their networks (something regulations require them to do).

That relationship has already caused Freedom Mobile to seek arbitration from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission because of roaming fees, among the highest in the world.

“I am not surprised that the Big Three make that so expensive,” Péladeau said.

Those fees are so expensive, Freedom said is not going to be able to offer locals its popular $34 per month plan for 50 gigabytes of data. (Péladeau said such a plan would cause the company to lose about $20/month per subscriber.)

Freedom will still introduce some low-priced plans in Manitoba, starting at $14.50 (for the first six months) and features such as free roaming in 80 countries, including the United States, officials said.

While it has to operate as MVNO to start, the company does own wireless spectrum in Manitoba, the technical backbone to allow the company to build its own network here.

Péladeau said the company will be investing $200 million-plus in this province to build such a network by the end of the decade.

He would not say how many subscribers Freedom has signed up so far — “We just launched!” — but across its growing national wireless network, the company gained 60,000 subscribers in the first quarter of the year.

While Freedom is the new player on the block, Quebecor has been in the wireless game since 2007, with its Vidéotron brand that controls 30 per cent of the Quebec market.

The company’s performance made it the favourite to acquire Freedom, because it had already proved it could be a successful fourth competitor in the wireless market — something regulators and politicians in Ottawa have been wanting to see for the rest of the country for years.

“Quebec is where you have to lowest wireless prices in Canada,” Péladeau said. But just because it’s been a success in Quebec, does not automatically mean it will be repeated across the country.

In addition to early disputes about roaming charges, Freedom has also been shut out of the Mobile Shop wireless kiosks housed in Real Canadian Superstores, whose operators had been carrying Freedom until last month.

Meanwhile, Freedom Mobile will be building three more of its own retail outlets in Winnipeg (and will also be available at Walmart and Best Buy stores in the city).

Some wireless industry experts say most developed markets around the world cannot sustain four competitors.

Péladeau countered his company has already proved it can be a profitable fourth competitor in Quebec and is keen to demonstrate its ability in Manitoba and elsewhere.

“Until,” he said jokingly, “we buy Bell.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca