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A man walks by a Rogers store in Toronto, Wednesday, August 15, 2013.Galit Rodan/The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was clearly in a populist mood ahead of Wednesday's Throne Speech, outlining a consumer-friendly agenda that provides some rare inconvenience for Canada's telecommunications oligopoly.

Using Rogers Communications Inc. as an example, however, it's clear that the government's plan to legislate the unbundling of cable television channels will do little to dent profitability for domestic telecoms.

Rogers earned $870-million in revenue from cable television operations during the second quarter of 2013. This represents 27 per cent of total sales – the wireless division accounted for the lion's share, at 56 per cent of the total.

Let's ignore the proven skill of Canada's dominant corporate franchises to stickhandle around new rules and estimate that Rogers' cable revenue will decline by 10 per cent as a result of the Tories de-bundling aspirations. This means that next year's second-quarter revenue from cable falls to $783-million (all else remaining equal).

Rogers' net income margin – the company's ability to turn revenue into profit – is 12.25 per cent. (This is a blended average of all divisions; profitability is likely different in each business segment. So, consider the following numbers an estimate based on the best information available).

Profit per share based on $870-million in revenue is 27 cents. With a ten per cent revenue reduction this falls to 24 cents.

Rogers earned 95 cents per share during the second quarter so a potential three cent decline would be a not-insignificant 3.2 per cent. But, given that cable revenues are only 25 per cent of the total, the company will likely be able to make up the difference somewhere else.

So, bring on the unbundling. The precedent of government meddling in price controls aside, it looks like a rare consumer-friendly measure that won't be a huge hit to telecom providers or their shareholders.

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