Article content continued

Overall, Shaw lost more subscribers than expected, partly due to the devastating fires in Fort McMurray. The majority of the 5,400 customers that cut their service are back online – and none will be charged for the month of May.

But investors were surprised by Shaw’s loss of 8,760 Internet consumers, a division that was expected to grow and offset the predictable shrinkage of television and telephone customers. (Home TV fell by 27,482 and phone by 14,861, buoyed slightly by an unexpected uptick of 3,847 satellite customers.)

“Nobody’s happy with that,” President Jay Mehr said in a conference call with investors on Friday morning, calling the Internet results “not acceptable” for the company’s vision of a future centred on high-speed Internet and wireless.

“Our big growth opportunities are absolutely wireless and absolutely broadband.”

Officials hope to reverse the loss with a new, high-speed, fibre coax cable hybrid Internet service launched Friday. Executives used the call to pitch Wideopen Internet 150, available across its entire network for only $49.90 per month for the first year, $79.90 per month for the second year then $135 per month. For a similar Internet speed, Telus charges $60 per month for the first three months then $98 per month.

Noting the price seemed “awfully aggressive,” TD analyst Vince Valentini questioned if Shaw needed to “really push on the price pedal” to speed up subscriber growth.