Shaw Communications, parent company of Freedom Mobile, released its Q1 2018 fiscal earnings report today.
For the three month period ending November 30th, 2017, the company reported a net income of $114 million, with company-wide revenue totalling $1.25 billion, a 2.7 percent increase from the $1.22 billion during the same period last year.
Revenue derived from the company’s wireless division, Freedom Mobile, increased by 26.8 percent to $175 million.
Shaw reported that Freedom added 34,000 subscribers during the quarter, which is a significant increase compared to the approximately 9,500 additions it managed to generate during Q1 2017.
It should be noted Shaw’s Q1 results do not reflect the full outcome of Freedom’s ‘Big Gig’ changes to its rate plans and the resulting promo pricing war that happened this past December. Shaw’s results also don’t reflect Freedom’s recent addition of the iPhone to its device lineup; Freedom officially started selling new iPhones on December 8th, 2017. However, in a statement issued alongside the company’s earnings report, Shaw Communications CEO Brad Shaw said early demand for the iPhone 8 and iPhone X was “strong.”
We’ll have to wait until the company releases its Q2 2018 earnings in three months time to see how those two factors affected the company’s subscriber growth. Still, even if it suffered a turbulent December, Freedom was able to add 130,000 subscribers over the course of 2017.
Moving forward, Shaw says it has completed the AWS-1 refarming it undertook in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. Moreover, it says it has started deploying the 2,500MHz spectrum it recently acquired from Videotron.
“We have created tremendous positive momentum in our Wireless business and we are committed to delivering Canadians sustainable and exceptional value and choice” said CEO Brad Shaw in a January 11th press release.
“It is increasingly clear that Canadians have been waiting for a credible wireless alternative and we are ready to deliver.”
Shaw president Jay Mehr also said during the company’s conference call, that Freedom Mobile saw “record disconnects” during the four to five day 10GB plan wireless sale by the big three carriers just before Christmas.
Source: Shaw
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