The regulator’s prohibition on activation, cancellation and modification fees came into effect June 12. However, the new regulations have been met with resistance from Bell, along with Rogers and Telus, which have each introduced fees that the CRTC says could violate the new ban.

Bell launched a $40 device handling fee in May that applies when customers purchase a device along with their wireless service plan.

The regulator launched a review in late June and said that if it determines the companies have violated the rules, they could face monetary penalties of up to $10 million.

BCE had a net gain of 41,594 postpaid mobile phone subscribers in its second quarter, down from 44,547 net activations during the same period a year earlier. It said the year-over-year decrease reflected a less active market due to reduced promotions as well as limited population growth in Canada.

The company said customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — was 1.02 per cent, an improvement from 1.06 per cent a year ago.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi said the results were largely in line with expectations, although Bell posted better-than-expected postpaid adds and churn.

“Wireless metrics in Canada continue to show pressure on ARPU, but (Bell’s) postpaid churn improved to the lowest quarterly level in three years,” he said in a note.

AI data centre build continues

On an adjusted basis, BCE earned 65 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 63 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

The company said business markets revenue — comprised of income from both telecom and AI services — was $1.08 billion in the quarter, down 8.5 per cent from $1.18 billion a year ago.

Earlier this year, BCE upped its revenue target for its growing AI business to around $2 billion by 2028 as it moves forward with plans to build a cluster of data centres.

That includes ongoing construction of a 300-megawatt data centre in rural Saskatchewan, which is expected to be operational in the first half of 2027. Along with that $1.7-billion facility, which is meant to eventually contribute around $500 million in revenue annually, BCE has three other fully contracted data centres.

Its facility in Kamloops, B.C., opened last year, while another in Merritt, B.C., launched in March and is expected to ramp up its next phase of operations in early 2027.

Another facility near Winnipeg is on track to enter service in the second half of this year, said Bibic, who reiterated BCE’s long-term plan to expand its data centre capacity to 800 megawatts of total power.

“We now have approximately 335 megawatts of contracted capacity, real facilities, real construction milestones, real customer commitments — all supporting the long-term AI-powered solutions growth platform we’re building.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2026.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press