The CEO of French Canadian quad play operator Videotron and its parent company Quebecor has decided to retire from his post citing health reasons.
Robert Depatie is stepping down from the role after 13 years with the company.
Pierre Dion, who currently…
The CEO of French Canadian quad play operator Videotron and its parent company Quebecor has decided to retire from his post citing health reasons.
Robert Depatie is stepping down from the role after 13 years with the company.
Pierre Dion, who currently heads up Quebecor media subsidiary TVA Group, replaces him with immediate effect.
Depatie will oversee the transition until 30 May before he departs after less than a year in the role since taking over from Pierre Karl Peladeau, who decided to pursue a career in politics.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Drew McReynolds described the announcement as a “surprise”, and said in a note that Depatie “is widely credited with transforming Videotron into one of the best run telecom operators in Canada, if not North America”.
Dion does not have direct experience in telecoms but Quebecor was keen to stress that he had been involved in all of the corporation’s strategic decisions over the past 10 years, including the introduction of Videotron’s mobile service.
In a statement the company said: “[Dion] is recognised as a leading Canadian media industry expert and was one of the main architects of the content convergence strategy across all distribution platforms designed to fully leverage our telecommunications assets.”
Earlier this year Videotron firmed up its commitment to its fledgling regional mobile operations by acquiring 700 MHz spectrum in Canada’s digital dividend auction.
It acquired more airwaves than expected, spending C$233m giving it almost a nationwide footprint. However, local experts have told TelecomFinance not to expect the operator to rollout a nationwide network any time soon.
Dion will continue to lead TVA until a permanent successor is found.
