Canada's telecoms say roaming revenue is down as U.S. travel drops
But the companies say for the most part they haven't yet borne the brunt of the economic impacts associated with U.S. tariffs, such as a pullback in consumer spending at home.
Speaking Wednesday at a telecom and media conference hosted by TD Securities, Bell Canada chief executive Mirko Bibic said the company's international roaming revenue was down about 10 per cent in the first quarter.
He said that pace would 'probably' continue throughout the year, in response to a question from TD analyst Vince Valentini.
'March in particular was hit, so it certainly hasn't grown and people are not travelling as much in particular to the U.S.,' said Bibic.
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'But we'll see in the summer.'
He said international roaming represents around four per cent of BCE Inc.'s mobile phone average revenue per user — a key metric reported by telecom companies in their quarterly earnings.
Statistics Canada has said Canadian visits to the U.S. have been decreasing in recent months. That has come amid anger over tariffs and annexation threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, along with growing fears about treatment at the border.
1:53
New StatsCan data shows just how much U.S. border travel has dropped
In April, the number of Canadians returning home by car from the U.S. fell 35 per cent compared with April 2024, the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
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Return trips by air from the U.S. fell nearly 20 per cent year-over-year.
Telus Corp. chief financial officer Doug French told Valentini that his company experienced a 'significant decline' in U.S. roaming revenue to start the year, especially throughout March break.
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He said that trend will likely continue until Canada-U.S. relations improve.
'Are we going to travel elsewhere to Europe and other places, and is that going to be the destination of choice? I don't know the answer to that,' he said.
'I think my predictions right now internally would be that we're going to have a bit of headwind for a while.'
French said less than five per cent of Telus' revenue comes from international roaming.
Meanwhile, around 15 per cent of the drop in Rogers Communications Inc.'s average revenue per user last quarter was due to less roaming by customers, said chief financial officer Glenn Brandt.
He said he anticipates a similar outcome for Rogers' second quarter, but it's too soon to say whether that will change later in 2025.
1:55
Cross-border traffic continues to drop as travellers face new checkpoint
'I do expect there will be more travel through the summer, but some of that travel is moving out from North America and over to Europe and what have you,' said Brandt.
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He added he was hopeful that 'the political backdrop settles down a bit.'
'We have a new government. If we can sort of calm some of those waves, maybe that'll help the economy as well.'
Asked whether economic uncertainty is affecting the industry overall, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said the company hasn't 'seen much of an impact on that.'
'I would say it's minor, if anything,' he said.
Bibic said Bell is also experiencing limited impacts from tariffs thus far.
'I'm watching it very carefully, and of course like probably most CEOs, quite concerned about it,' he said.
'Clearly economists are predicting potential difficulties. We're watching for signs of lack of consumer confidence and slowdown in enterprise spending. So far it's OK, but we're not being cavalier about it.'
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