Cogeco Communications Inc.
TSX:CCA
C$ 60.15
+ C$0.39 (0.65%)
C$ 60.15
+ C$0.39 (0.65%)
End-of-day quote: 03/11/2024

Cogeco Communications Stock

About Cogeco Communications

Cogeco Communications Inc. operates as a cable operator in North America. The company is a subsidiary of Cogeco Inc. Cogeco Communications share price history

The company operates in Canada under the Cogeco Connexion name in Québec and Ontario, and in the United States under the Atlantic Broadband brand in 12 states. The company provides residential and business customers with Internet, video and telephony services through its two-way broadband fibre networks.

Segments

The company operates through two segments, the Canadian Broadband Services (Cogeco Connexion) and the American Broadband Services (Atlantic Broadband).

Cogeco Connexion: The activities of this segment are carried out in the provinces of Québec and Ontario, Canada.

Atlantic Broadband: The activities of this segment are carried out in the United States in 12 states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Cogeco Communications share price history

Services

Residential Services

The company offers a range of video, Internet and telephony services to their residential customers. Services can be offered on a stand-alone basis or bundled into double-play and triple-play offerings.

Internet Service

The company offers a wide range of Internet packages with top download speeds of up to 1 Gbps in Canada and the United States. The company also offers best-in-class managed Wi-Fi, with new home Wi-Fi solutions in both Canada and the United States. These solutions improve the overall customer experience by providing expanded Wi-Fi coverage with enhanced reliability and consistent speed in every area of the home. The company's home Wi-Fi solutions include self-installation devices, which are provided to customers on a rental basis and work with any of the available gateways or modems. The company also offers a simple and complete security suite and email solutions to their Internet customers with automatic updates to protect their devices. As an added benefit, Internet customers can connect wirelessly to the Internet at no extra cost from designated Wi-Fi Internet hotspots in the company's Canadian and American footprints.

Video Services

The company offers its customers a full array of video services on a subscription basis. Customers have access to a basic video service, various tier packages, pay-per-view channels, video on demand services and advanced video services.

Basic Service: Cogeco Connexion offers to its video customers a mandatory, small entry-level basic service comprising local, regional, over-the-air, community and educational channels. This package also includes, as mandated or permitted by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, certain discretionary services, such as United States conventional services and an interactive program guide. Atlantic Broadband’s basic digital service customers receive the basic level of service which consists of local broadcast television and local community programming, including government and public access channels. They also receive an interactive electronic programming guide and multiple channels of CD-quality digital music.

Tier Packages: Cogeco Connexion’s Video service customers can obtain additional programming services by subscribing to one of the various tier packages, including pre-assembled packages, as well as flexible packages containing between 10 and 40 programming services.

Various digital tier packages which focus on the interests of a particular customer demographic and emphasize, for example, sports, movies, family or ethnic programming are also offered by Atlantic Broadband.

Pay-per-view Channels: Digital video service customers have access in Canada and the United States to an expanded menu of pay-per-view channels, which allow customers to pay to view a single showing of a recently released movie or a one-time special sporting event or music concert on a commercial-free basis.

Video on demand Service: The Video on demand service allows customers with digital services to choose from a library of hundreds of movies and other programming and to view them at a convenient time.

Advanced Video Service: In addition to traditional video set-top boxes, the company offers advanced video services through TiVo Inc. (TiVo)’s service platform, which provides customers with a user-friendly interface and includes fully-integrated access to additional streaming apps, such as Netflix. TiVo allows customers to access content on multiple screens across TVs, smartphones, tablets and more, both in-home and on-the-go.

IPTV service: In fiscal 2021, Cogeco Connexion officially launched its first IPTV service, branded EPICO. This evolution toward IPTV further enhances its video platform offerings by improving its customers experience with highly customizable video content, wireless enabled equipment, voice activated controls and access to applications. An IPTV service will also be launched at the end of the calendar year in the United States with a progressive roll-out next year.

Telephony Service

Cogeco Connexion’s home phone service uses Internet protocol (IP) to transport digitized voice signals over the same private network that brings video and Internet services to customers.

Canadian Residential customers can subscribe to the following three telephony services: Basic (unlimited local calling), Select (unlimited calling, two features and 100 minutes long distance within Canada and the United States) and Freedom (unlimited calls within Canada and the United States and five of the most popular telephony features). Customers can also add many calling features to their home phone package. All Cogeco Connexion residential telephony service customers have access to international long distance plans.

Atlantic Broadband's residential telephony service features include: unlimited long-distance calling throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, the ability to keep the customers’ existing telephone number where local number portability is supported, the ability to access enhanced Emergency 911 dialing and the ability to use existing telephones and in-house wiring. The service also includes voicemail and fifteen other popular custom calling features, such as calling line ID.

Service Bundles

As of August 31, 2021, 67% and 47% of Cogeco Connexion and Atlantic Broadband customers, respectively, subscribed to ‘double play’ and ‘triple play’ bundle services.

Business Services

The company offers video, Internet and telephony services to businesses across their service areas. The company offers a range of general and dedicated broadband Internet packages with speeds up to 10 Gbps on the downstream and up to 1 Gbps on the upstream. These Internet services are often sold in solution packages with business phone lines, long distance, toll free, security and video services.

Cogeco Connexion also provides IP based telephony services and other advanced network connectivity services delivered over fibre optic connection to larger businesses in its footprint. Network connectivity services are offered in point-to-point or point-to-multipoint configurations resulting in highly scalable and secure services. Fibre circuits are used to offer dedicated high speed connectivity (including greater than 1 Gbps symmetrical) and advanced voice services to larger businesses in the form of session initiation protocol or primary rate interface (PRI) trunks. Services over fibre are ideal for businesses with approximately 50 employees and multiple locations requiring private, secure and interconnected networks that support sophisticated data and voice applications and services either on premise or in the cloud.

Atlantic Broadband's commercial telephony service offers commercial customers multiple line capability, and is often bundled with the Internet service. Atlantic Broadband has rolled out a voice over IP (VoIP)-based PRI and a hosted PBX service for its commercial customers. Atlantic Broadband offers 4G LTE Backup Service for its business Internet customers. In the event of an interruption in a customer’s Internet service, Atlantic Broadband’s 4G LTE Backup Service solution delivers an automatic, seamless 4G/LTE-based backup internet connection to a customer’s modem. Atlantic Broadband has also enhanced its Metro-Ethernet service offering with standardized solutions and speeds that scale from 10 Mbps to 10 Gbps, including multiprotocol label switching, based on customer needs. Atlantic Broadband also opportunistically pursues large business, carrier and corporate customers located within its network footprint requiring wide area networks, point-to-point or point-to-multipoint data services and virtual private networks. These services are offered where Atlantic Broadband has excess fibre capacity on its network and where the contract with the customer provides an adequate return on investment.

Regulation

Cogeco Connexion is primarily regulated under the Broadcasting Act (Canada) and the Telecommunications Act (Canada) and regulations thereunder while Atlantic Broadband is regulated primarily by the Communications Act of 1934 (United States).

Canada

Video Services

Cogeco Connexion holds two regional licences to operate its non-exempt broadcasting distribution undertakings serving Ontario and Québec. These licences were renewed for a seven-year term starting on September 1, 2018 and ending on August 31, 2025.

Voice Services

VoIP Service

Cogeco Connexion is required to fulfill competitive local exchange carrier obligations, such as those related to the provision of local number portability, enhanced Emergency 911 capabilities, privacy safeguards, message relay services, directory listings and equal access to interexchange carriers.

The United States

Video Services

Franchising

Atlantic Broadband is required to obtain a non-exclusive franchise from states where franchises are regulated at the state level or local municipalities in order to use the public rights-of-way and provide cable services. Franchises are granted for a fixed period of time, and federal law prohibits franchise authorities from unreasonably denying renewals.

History

The company was founded in 1972. It was formerly known as Cogeco Cable Inc. and changed its name to Cogeco Communications Inc. in 2016.

Country
Founded:
1957
IPO Date:
07/06/1993
ISIN Number:
I_CA19239C1068

Contact Details

Address:
1 Place Ville Marie, Suite 3301, Montreal, Quebec, H3B 3N2, Canada
Phone Number
514-764-4600

Key Executives

CEO:
Jette, Philippe
CFO
Ouimet, Patrice
COO:
Blais, Michel