(Bloomberg) -- Cable and internet provider Cogeco Communications Inc. plans to begin selling wireless services in the US in an effort to reignite growth and retain more customers.

The company that owns Breezeline, the eighth-largest US cable operator, is negotiating deals to lease capacity on other wireless firms’ networks, Cogeco Chief Executive Officer Philippe Jetté told analysts Thursday. It’s a business model known as mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO. 

Breezeline’s Montreal-based parent is starting with wireless services in the US, rather than its home market of Canada, because it’s easier to negotiate reasonable terms with existing wireless companies, Jetté said.

“We aim for our mobile offerings in both countries,” Jetté said. “It is not only to improve our bundling efficiency, but also to increase our addressable market, strengthen our product mix, add an important customer-acquisition channel, and improve our customer retention and satisfaction.”

Cogeco’s shares have been under pressure over the past two years, falling almost 40% since the beginning of 2022, as revenue growth slowed and earnings declined. The stock was down 0.3% in early-afternoon trading in Toronto. 

In Canada, Jetté said the company remains in MVNO negotiations with large wireless companies, but investors shouldn’t expect expansion in the near term. Cogeco paid close to C$600 million ($448 million) for its own wireless-spectrum licenses in Quebec and Ontario in recent years. 

During a news conference, Jetté sided with Quebecor Inc.’s Pierre Karl Peladeau, saying Canada’s big three wireless operators are “dragging their feet” in signing MVNO deals that would increase competition. 

TD Cowen analyst Vince Valentini told investors last month that adding wireless is key to helping Breezeline retain customers. “Bundling wireless with Internet should help Cogeco reduce churn in its competitive battle in Ohio and elsewhere,” he said in a note. 

In December, holding company Cogeco Inc. and operating unit Cogeco Communications Inc. repurchased about C$200 million of shares when rival Rogers Communications Inc. sold its stakes in both companies.

Read More: Rogers Sells $600 Million Cogeco Stake to CDPQ to Pare Debt

Some analysts say the structure of having two public companies no longer makes sense, and it may be better to simplify it — perhaps by collapsing the holding company and making Cogeco Communications a more liquid stock.

“We’re always looking at ways of improving value for shareholders,” Jetté said. “That is an option, but there’s not much more I can say right now. So we are not close to anything, including this.” Voting control of the Cogeco group is held by the Audet family, who used it to rebuff a hostile takeover bid in 2020.

Cogeco Communications missed revenue estimates in the fiscal first quarter. Sales dropped 1.9% from the previous year to to C$747.7 million, while adjusted earnings per share were higher than expected at C$2.01, beating the consensus of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

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