Freedom Mobile expands in Quebec, offers free nationwide domestic roaming access to attract customers outside urban cores

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Quebecor Inc.’s Freedom Mobile wireless division. is introducing seamless roaming, launching its first 5G services, lowering roaming charges for existing customers and expanding into Quebec, in a host of offerings aimed at retaining customers and growing its subscriber base.

Quebecor’s telecoms subsidiary Videotron Ltd. bought Freedom Mobile for $2.85 billion in March as part of the much larger RCI-BT takeover of Rogers Communications Inc. of Shaw Communications Inc.

Since then, Quebecor QBR-BT has reiterated its plans to expand Videotron’s wireless offerings across Canada. The company has promised to keep its phone plans at a 20 percent discount to the three other major incumbents (Bell Canada, Rogers and Telus Corp. TT) for 10 years from its benchmark date of last Feb. 10, or face annual penalties of up to $200 million.

As of July 24, Freedom Mobile is also implementing seamless handover when moving between home and partner networks. Previously, when moving between networks, sometimes customers’ calls would drop or data would be interrupted.

In a 2021 filing with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Videotron said the lack of seamless roaming was the biggest obstacle to its growth across the country, particularly outside urban centres, and resulted in thousands of dropped calls per day.

The seamless rollouts are mandated by the CRTC, which directed wireless carriers to have the functionality by August 7.

From July 24, existing Freedom Mobile customers will be able to access their “home” data on partner networks without paying additional charges, a boon for its customers living outside major urban centres. Previously, customers were allocated a limited amount of data on partner networks, after which they would have to pay a fee or see their service throttled.

Freedom Mobile operates its own network in densely populated areas in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, particularly the Greater Toronto Area, and through the networks of other carriers to provide nationwide coverage.

Access to competitors’ networks is negotiated through domestic roaming agreements, and the cost is ultimately passed on to Freedom Mobile customers, affecting wireless prices. The Globe and Mail previously reported that Quebecor and Rogers were engaged in discussions with the federal government about lowering domestic roaming charges for Freedom Mobile customers.

Quebecor hopes to reach an agreement to secure access to BCE Inc.’s BCE-T Bell Canada network. with the help of Canada’s telecom regulator. In mid-July, the CRTC said the two companies were unable to reach a price decision and that it would offer final arbitration as part of the mobile virtual network operator framework.

Under this framework, incumbents are required to provide access to their networks to qualified regional players such as Quebecor so that those smaller players can grow their subscription bases while developing their national network equipment.

From the end of July, some Freedom Mobile customers will also have access to 5G service. Customers with plans priced at $45 a month or more and eligible SIM cards will connect to the company’s 5G network in the coming weeks, she said in an e-mail, with that service rolling out over several weeks.

In the deal to buy the company, Quebecor said it would enable 5G for 90 percent of Freedom Mobile customers within two years and promised to spend $150 million to upgrade the company’s network.

Also in mid-July, Freedom Mobile told employees in a memo that it was expanding its coverage in Quebec.

The company said the new services will apply to existing customers, but has not said if or when it plans to expand them to new customers.