BCE’s profit up 46%, highlights high-end mobile take-up

BCE, parent of Bell Canada and Bell Aliant, has reported a 46% increase in third-quarter net profit driven partly by an increase in wireless customers at its Bell Mobility division, and good uptake of new high-end mobile handsets. Net income in the three months ended 30 September 2007 rose to CAD440 million (USD484 million) from CAD302 million a year ago, as revenue climbed 2% year-on-year to CAD4.49 billion. The Montreal-based group announced in a statement. Wireless revenue rose 8% year-on-year after Bell introduced new corporate-focused phones such as Research In Motion’s BlackBerry 8830 e-mail device, and net new customers totalled 137,000, 7% higher than last year. Blended mobile ARPU increased to CAD56. BCE has focused on the mobile business, which accounted for a fifth of revenue last year, to make up for declines in Bell Canada’s local fixed telephony operations, which lost 93,000 customers in 3Q07.