Bell Canada's EBITDA climbs 10.2%

Bell Canada’s revenues rose by 13.5% year-on-year to CAD4.36 billion (USD4.50 billion) in the second quarter of 2011, driving three-month EBITDA up 10.2% to CAD1.65 billion. Amongst the full-service operator’s results, wireless operating revenues increased by 6.1% in the three months to the end of June, and wireless EBITDA rose by 0.9%, as higher operating revenues were largely offset by an increase in subscriber acquisition and retention costs. Smartphones represented 56% of gross post-paid mobile device activations in the three-month period to represent 38% of Bell’s post-paid mobile customer base at mid-2011, contributing to wireless data revenue growth of 34% in Q2. Blended monthly mobile ARPU increased by CAD0.87 to CAD52.99, reflecting the increase in higher-value post-paid customers as a percentage of Bell’s wireless subscriber base.