Wireless subscribers in Canada top 30 million

The number of wireless subscriptions in Canada surpassed the 30-million milestone in the third quarter as continued strength across the mobile industry surprised investors and kept growth chugging at telecommunications companies coping with weaker wired services.

Wireless providers added more than 445,000 new wireless subscriptions in the three months ending Sept. 30, with the Big Three of Rogers Communications Inc., BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. signing up more than 361,000 subscribers alone, according to financial documents.

That easily trumps the 233,000 added in the second quarter after a dismal collective loss of 12,000 subscribers in the first quarter. All, including Shaw Communications Inc.’s Wind Mobile and Videotron, beat Bay Street’s expectations when it came to wireless.

Conversely, the incumbent telephone and cable providers posted relatively softer results for Internet, television ( just shy of 1,000 adds) and telephone segments, which continue to be plagued by cordcutters who are opting for faster Internet connections. Internet added 104,000 subscribers, television was up by just shy of 1,000 and 156,000 subscribers axed their land lines.

But neither executives nor analysts can pinpoint what’s driving wireless market growth, which “appears to be expanding faster than expected,” Barclays analyst Phillip Huang wrote in an investors note.

In a call with analysts Friday, Telus CEO Darren Entwistle suggested factors could include population expansion, new demographics getting wireless, a growing digital society and people buying multiple devices. Counterpart Bell CEO George Cope told analysts Thursday it could be a recovering Alberta economy, better networks and younger customers.

What is clear is that “all players took their fair share” in a healthy market, Desjardins Capital Markets analyst Maher Yaghi wrote in an investment note Friday.

“Strong performance loading is good for everyone,” Entwistle said, before emphasizing that wireless is not his only bet for growth.

Cord shaving hurts cable incumbents most — “It’s great not to be the incumbent,” Entwistle said — so Telus has addressed the challenge by embracing over-the-top video streaming apps. Telus’ philosophy is that its fibre network helps it deliver such content in a “powerful format,” he said, adding the Internet of Things is also expected to mean growth for the telecommunications industry.

Telus, the last to report thirdquarter results, posted Friday a revenue boost of 2.6 per cent to $3.2 billion over this period last year.