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TORONTO — Canada’s three biggest telecom firms, keen to keep shareholders happy with fat dividends, are breaking into businesses ranging from banking to healthcare to drive growth as they run out of expansion options and shy away from overseas purchases.

BCE Inc, Rogers Communications Inc and Telus Corp dominate their industry in Canada but with landline connections on the wane, cable TV losing out to online portals and wireless growth slowing, Canada’s telecom giants are pushing into uncharted businesses.

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Some of the moves – such as Rogers’ $5.2 billion-deal for exclusive National Hockey League broadcast rights – may bring a rapid pay-off. Others, like Telus’ bid to dominate healthcare services, are gambles that may not pay off for many years.

“They’re all quite different bets,” said Iain Grant, head of Seaboard Group, a telecom consultancy. “I was quite impressed by the audacity of Rogers making the bid for NHL in Canada,” he said, pointing to a likely immediate boost to earnings as more live sports content is consumed on mobile devices.