Bell Canada posted a 3.2% year-on-year rise in revenues to CAD6.024 billion (USD4.385 billion) in the third quarter of 2022, and a 1.2% y-o-y improvement in Q3 adjusted EBITDA to CAD2.588 billion. Q3 net income dropped 5.2% to CAD771 million and CAPEX was 13.1% lower than the year-ago quarter at CAD1.317 billion. The operator achieved its highest retail fixed internet quarterly net activations in 17 years, up 36.3% to 89,652, which drove 8% residential fixed broadband revenue growth as Bell also recorded over 95,000 net new fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) subscriptions in the three months to 30 September, a figure up 33% y-o-y and its best-ever result. Bell also noted it is on track to complete 80% of its high speed fixed broadband network buildout plan by the end of 2022, and furthermore highlighted that its ‘5G+’ Standalone (SA) 5G mobile network coverage was recently expanded in southern Ontario as well as across parts of Atlantic Canada, including Halifax (Nova Scotia), Moncton (New Brunswick) and St. John’s (Newfoundland), with 5G+ expected to cover approximately 40% of the Canadian population by end-2022, alongside ongoing 5G (Non-Standalone) expansion across all ten Canadian provinces.

Bell CFO Glen LeBlanc stated: ‘Despite sizeable costs related to storms [see below] and inflationary pressures absorbed in the quarter, our disciplined approach in balancing market share growth and financial performance resulted in a respectable adjusted EBITDA increase of 1.2%.’ The group’s quarterly report added: ‘The devastation of Hurricane Fiona underscored the role that our networks play in the daily lives of Canadians. The Bell team worked tirelessly in difficult conditions to restore service for those impacted … While the damage to our infrastructure was unprecedented, it reinforced that our accelerated capital investment programme to build and expand reliable fibre and wireless networks across our footprint continues to be the right approach for our customers.’

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