ITEM 3 – KEY INFORMATION

The following tables present selected consolidated financial information for our business presented in accordance with IFRS for each of the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010. We derived this selected consolidated financial information from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are comprised of consolidated balance sheets as at December 31, 2011 and 2010 and as at January 1, 2010 and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, equity and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2011. The selected consolidated financial information presented below should be read in conjunction with the information contained in “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and our audited consolidated financial statements as at December 31, 2011 and 2010 and as at January 1, 2010 and for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 and notes thereto contained in “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report (beginning on page F-1). Our consolidated financial statements as at December 31, 2011 and 2010 and as at January 1, 2010 and for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm. Ernst & Young LLP’s report on the consolidated financial statements as at December 31, 2011 and 2010 and as at January 1, 2010 and for the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010 is included in this annual report.

In separate tables below we also present selected consolidated financial information presented in accordance with Canadian GAAP for each of the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007. We derived this Canadian GAAP selected consolidated financial information from our audited consolidated financial statements comprised of consolidated balance sheets as at December 31, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007 and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, shareholder’s equity and cash flows for each of the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2007, which are not included in this annual report. Our consolidated financial statements as at December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 and for the years ended December 31, 2010, 2009 and 2008 prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP

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have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP’s reports on those consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP are not included in this annual report. Our consolidated financial statements as at December 31, 2007 and for the year ended December 31, 2007 prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP have been audited by KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm (such audit before the effects of the adjustments to retrospectively apply the change in accounting described in Note 1(b) and Note 23(viii) to the audited financial statements included in Videotron’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2009). KPMG LLP’s report is not included in this annual report.

The information presented below the caption “Other Financial Data and Ratios” is unaudited except for cash flows and capital expenditures, which have been derived from our IFRS and Canadian GAAP consolidated financial statements. The information presented below the caption “Operating Data” is not derived from our consolidated financial statements and is unaudited.

We caution you that the separate tables below include financial information based on IFRS and Canadian GAAP, and that the information based on IFRS is not comparable to information prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP.

Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of our future financial condition or results of operations.

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Not applicable.

Not applicable.

This section describes some of the risks that could materially affect our business, revenues, results of operations and financial condition, as well as the market value of our Senior Notes. The factors below should be considered in connection with any forward-looking statements in this document and with the cautionary statements contained in the section “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” at the forepart of this annual report. The risks below are not the only ones that we face. Some risks may not yet be known to us and some that we do not currently believe to be material could later turn out to be material.

Risks Relating to Our Business

We operate in highly competitive industries that are experiencing rapid technological developments, and our inability to compete successfully could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, revenues, financial condition and results of operations.

In our cable operations, we compete against providers of direct broadcast satellite (or “ DBS ”, which in Canada are also referred to as DTH, for “direct-to-home” satellite providers), multichannel multipoint distribution systems (or “ MDS ”), and satellite master antenna television systems. In addition, we compete against incumbent local exchange carriers (or “ ILECs ”), which have secured licenses to launch video distribution services using video digital subscriber line (or “ VDSL ”) technology (also known as internet protocol television or “ IPTV ”). The main ILEC in our market holds a regional license to provide terrestrial broadcasting distribution in Montréal and several other communities in the Province of Québec. The same ILEC is also a cable operator in our main service area and recently launched its own IPTV service in Montréal, which is expected to be launched in Québec city in the coming months and with a full rollout throughout the Province of Québec expected in the years to come. The direct access to some broadcasters’ web sites that provide in high definition streaming video-on-demand content is also available for some of the same channels we offer in our television programming. In addition, third-party Internet access providers (or “ TPIAs ”) could launch IP video services in our footprint using ILEC DSL networks.

We also face competition from illegal providers of cable television services and illegal access to non-Canadian DBS (also called grey market piracy), as well as from signal theft of DBS that enables customers to access programming services from U.S. and Canadian DBS without paying any fees (also called black market piracy). Competitors in the video business also include the video store industry (rental & sale) as well as other emerging content delivery platforms.

Due to ongoing technological developments, the distinction between traditional platforms (broadcasting, Internet and telephony) is fading rapidly. For instance, the Internet, as well as distribution over mobile devices, are becoming important broadcasting and distribution platforms. In addition, mobile operators, with the development of their respective 4G and Long Term Evolution and Advanced (also known as “ LTE ”) networks, are now offering wireless and fixed wireless Internet services. In addition, our VoIP telephony service also competes with Internet-based solutions.

In our Internet access business, we compete against other Internet service providers (or “ ISP ”), and TPIA offering residential and commercial Internet access services as well as open Wi-Fi networks in some cities. The CRTC also requires us to offer access to our high-speed Internet system to ISP competitors, and third-party ISPs to access our network, for the purpose of providing telephony and networking applications, in addition to retail Internet access services.

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Our VoIP service has numerous competitors, including ILECs, competitive local exchange carriers (or “ CLECs ”), mobile telephony service operators and other providers of telephony, VoIP and Internet communications, including competitors that are not facilities-based and therefore have a much lower infrastructure cost. In addition, internet protocol-based (“ IP-based ”) products and services are generally subject to downward pricing pressure, lower margins and technological evolution, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business, prospects and results of operation.

In our mobile High-Speed Packet Access (“ HSPA+ ”) telephony business, we compete against a mix of market participants, some of them being active in some or all the products we offer, with others offering only mobile telephony services in our market. In addition, users of mobile voice and data systems may find their communication needs satisfied by other current or developing adjunct technologies, such as Wi-Fi, WiMax, “hotspots” or trunk radio systems, which have the technical capability to handle mobile data communication and mobile telephone calls. There can be no assurance that current or future competitors will not provide network capacity and/or services comparable or superior to those we provide or may in the future provide, or at lower prices, adapt more quickly to evolving industry trends or changing market requirements, or introduce competing services. For instance, since 2008 some providers of mobile telephony services (including most of the incumbent carriers as well as at least one other new entrant) have launched lower-cost mobile telephony services in order to acquire additional market share and increase their respective mobile telephony penetration rates in our market. Also, the Canadian incumbents have started rolling out their LTE 4G networks, and this technology is expected to become an industry standard. The cost of implementing, modifying our existing network or competing against future technological innovations may be prohibitive to us, and we may lose customers if we fail to keep pace with these changes or fail to keep pace with surging network capacity demand. Any of these factors could adversely affect our ability to operate our mobile business successfully and profitably. Moreover, we may not be able to compete successfully in the future against existing or potential competitors, and increased competition could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, revenues, financial condition and results of operations. See also the risk factor “— We are using a new technology for which only a limited offer of handsets is available, which could increase our customer acquisition costs and reduce our competitiveness” below.

Finally, a few of our competitors are offering special discounts to customers who subscribe to two or more of their services (cable television or IPTV, internet, residential phone and mobile telephony services). As a result, should we fail to keep our existing customers and lose them to such competitors, we may end up losing up to one subscriber for each of our services. This could have an adverse effect on our business, prospects, revenues, financial condition and results of operation.

We have entered into roaming agreements with other mobile operators in order to provide worldwide coverage to our mobile telephony customers. Our inability to renew, or substitute for, these agreements at their respective terms and on acceptable terms may place us at a competitive disadvantage, which could adversely affect our ability to operate our mobile business successfully and profitably.

We have entered into roaming agreements with multiple carriers around the world (including Canada, the United States and Europe), and have established worldwide coverage. Our inability to renew, or substitute for, these agreements at their respective terms and on acceptable terms may place us at a competitive disadvantage, which could adversely affect our ability to operate our mobile business successfully and profitably.

In addition, various aspects of mobile communications operations, including the ability of mobile providers to enter into interconnection agreements with traditional landline telephone companies and the ability of mobile providers to manage data traffic on their networks, are subject to regulation by the CRTC. The government agencies having jurisdiction over any mobile business that we may develop could adopt regulations or take other actions that could adversely affect our mobile business and operations, including actions that could increase competition or that could increase our costs.

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Our reputation may be negatively impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have generally enjoyed a good reputation among the public. Our ability to maintain our existing customer relationships and to attract new customers depends to a large extent on our reputation. While we have put in place certain mechanisms to mitigate the risk that our reputation may be tarnished, including good governance practices and a code of ethics, we cannot be assured that we will continue to enjoy a good reputation nor can we be assured that events that are beyond our control will not cause our reputation to be negatively impacted. The loss or tarnishing of our reputation could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We are using a new technology for which only a limited offer of handsets is available, which could increase our customer acquisition costs and reduce our competitiveness.

Advanced wireless services (“ AWS ”) in the 2GHz range is a spectrum that has not been broadly used until recently for mobile telephony. While certain mobile device suppliers offer hardware for AWS technology, there are still only a limited number of AWS handsets on the market, which could reduce our ability to compete with our competitors that offer a broader range of handsets. As a result, the handset portfolio for AWS we are currently offering does not include certain more popular devices and is not as broad as those of certain other providers. Moreover, most handset manufacturers have reduced the number of stock keeping units in their portfolio. In addition, the handsets available to us are sometimes subject to an exclusivity period which varies in length when they are released to market. If manufacturers continue to offer exclusivity on future products in Canada, this could potentially reduce the number of handsets available to us in the AWS band. We could potentially incur higher customer acquisition costs due to a smaller market for this type of technology and could potentially have a reduced offer of handsets to offer to our customers, which could slow the growth of our customer base and adversely affect our ability to operate our mobile business successfully and competitively.

We are regularly required to make capital expenditures to remain technologically and economically competitive. We may not be able to obtain additional capital to implement our business strategies and make certain capital expenditures.

Our strategy of maintaining a leadership position in the suite of products and services we offer and launching new products and services requires capital investments in our network and infrastructure to support growth in our customer base and demands for increased bandwidth capacity and other services. In this regard, we have in the past required substantial capital for the upgrade, expansion and maintenance of our network and the launch and expansion of new or additional services. We expect that additional capital expenditures will be required in the short and medium term in order to expand and maintain our systems and services, including expenditures relating to advancements in Internet access and high definition television (“ HDTV ”), as well as the cost of our mobile services infrastructure deployment.

The demand for wireless data services has been growing at unprecedented rates and it is projected that this demand will further accelerate, driven by increasing levels of broadband penetration, increasing need for personal connectivity and networking, increasing affordability of smartphones and Internet-only devices (e.g., high-usage data devices such as mobile Internet keys, tablets and electronic book readers), increasingly multimedia-rich services and applications, increasing wireless competition, and possibly unlimited data plans. The anticipated levels of data traffic will represent a growing challenge to the current mobile network’s ability to serve this traffic. We may have to acquire additional spectrum, if available, in order to address this increased demand. The ability to acquire additional spectrum (if needed) is dependent on the timing and the rules established by Industry Canada.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain the funds necessary to finance our capital improvement programs, new strategies and services or other capital expenditure requirements, whether through cash from operations, additional borrowings or other sources. If we are unable to generate sufficient funds or obtain additional financing on acceptable terms, we may not be able to implement our business strategies or proceed with the capital expenditures and investments required to maintain our leadership position, and our business, financial condition, results of operations, reputation and prospects could be materially adversely affected. Even if we are able to obtain adequate funding, the period of time required to upgrade our network could have a material adverse effect on our ability to successfully compete in the future. Moreover, additional funds that we invest in our business may not translate into incremental revenues.

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See also the risk factors “— We operate in highly competitive industries that are experiencing rapid technological developments, and our inability to compete successfully could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, revenues, financial condition and results of operations”, “— We compete, and will continue to compete, with alternative technologies, and we may be required to invest a significant amount of capital to address continuing technological evolution and development” and “— We may require from time to time to refinance certain of our indebtedness. Our inability to do so on favorable terms, or at all, could have a material adverse effect on us”.

We may need to support increasing costs in securing access to support structures needed for our cable network.

We require access to the support structures of hydro electric and telephone utilities and to municipal rights of way to deploy our cable network. Where access to the structures of telephone utilities cannot be secured, we may apply to the CRTC to obtain a right of access under the Telecommunications Act (Canada) (the “ Telecommunications Act ”). We have entered into comprehensive support structure access agreements with all of the major hydro electric companies and all of the major telecommunication companies in our service territory. Our agreement with Hydro-Québec, by far the largest of the hydro electric companies, expires in December 2012. Rates are currently adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). An increase in rates charged by Hydro-Quebec could have a significant impact on Videotron’s cost structure.

We may not successfully implement our business and operating strategies.

Our business strategies are based on leveraging an integrated platform of media assets. Our strategies include offering multi-platform advertising solutions, generating and distributing content across a spectrum of media properties and assets, launching and deploying additional value-added products and services, pursuing cross-promotional opportunities, maintaining our advanced broadband network, pursuing enhanced content development to reduce costs, further integrating the operations of our subsidiaries, leveraging geographic clustering and maximizing customer satisfaction. We may not be able to fully implement these strategies or realize their anticipated results without incurring significant costs or at all. In addition, our ability to successfully implement these strategies could be adversely affected by a number of factors beyond our control, including operating difficulties, increased ongoing operating costs, regulatory developments, general or local economic conditions, increased competition, technological changes and the other factors described in this “Risk Factors” section. While the centralization of certain business operations and processes has the advantage of standardizing our practices, thereby reducing costs and increasing our effectiveness, it also represents a risk in itself should a business solution implemented by a centralized office throughout the organization fail to produce the intended results. We may also be required to make capital expenditures or other investments, which may affect our ability to implement our business strategies to the extent we are unable to secure additional financing on acceptable terms or generate sufficient funds internally to cover these requirements. Any material failure to implement our strategies could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations and on our ability to meet our obligations, including our ability to service our indebtedness.

We could be adversely impacted by consumers’ switch from landline telephony to mobile telephony.

The recent trend toward mobile substitution or “cord-cutting” (when users cancel their landline telephony services and opt for mobile telephony services only) is largely the result of the increasing mobile penetration rate in Canada and the various unlimited offers launched by mobile operators. We may not be successful in converting our existing cable telephony subscriber base to our mobile telephony services, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations.

We compete, and will continue to compete, with alternative technologies and we may be required to invest a significant amount of capital to address continuing technological evolution and development.

The media industry is experiencing rapid and significant technological change, which has resulted in alternative means of program and content transmission. The continued growth of the Internet has presented alternative content

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distribution options that compete with traditional media. Furthermore, in each of our broadcasting markets, industry regulators have authorized DTH, microwave services and VDSL services and may authorize other alternative methods of transmitting television and other content with improved speed and quality. We may not be able to successfully compete with existing or newly developed alternative technologies, such as IPTV, or we may be required to acquire, develop or integrate new technologies. The cost of the acquisition, development or implementation of new technologies could be significant and our ability to fund such implementation may be limited and could have a material adverse effect on our ability to successfully compete in the future. Any such difficulty or inability to compete could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, prospects, financial condition or results of operations.

The continuous technological improvement of the Internet, combined with higher download speeds and cost reductions for customers, may divert a portion of our existing television subscriber base from our video-on-demand services to new video-over-the-Internet model. While having a positive impact on the demand for our Internet services, video-over-the-Internet could adversely impact the demand for our video-on-demand services.

We have grown rapidly and are seeking to continue our growth. If we do not effectively manage our growth, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We have experienced substantial growth in our business and have significantly expanded our operations in recent years. We have sought in the past, and may in the future seek, to make opportunistic or strategic acquisitions and further expand the types of businesses in which we participate, as was the case for our expansion into facilities-based mobile telephony operations, under appropriate conditions. We can provide no assurance that we will be successful in either developing or fulfilling the objectives of any such acquisition or business expansion.

In addition, our expansion and acquisitions may require us to incur significant costs or divert significant resources, and may limit our ability to pursue other strategic and business initiatives, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, prospects or results of operations. Furthermore, if we are not successful in managing and integrating any acquired businesses, or if we are required to incur significant or unforeseen costs, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We depend on key personnel.

Our success depends to a large extent upon the continued services of our senior management and our ability to retain skilled employees. There is intense competition for qualified management and skilled employees, and our failure to recruit, train and retain such employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results. In addition, to implement and manage our businesses and operating strategies effectively, we must maintain a high level of efficiency, performance and content quality, continue to enhance our operational and management systems, and continue to effectively attract, train, motivate and manage our employees. We currently anticipate a near-term need to attract and train a substantial number of new employees, including many skilled employees. If we are not successful in these efforts, it may have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

Our financial performance could be materially adversely affected if we cannot continue to distribute a wide range of television programming on commercially reasonable terms.

The financial performance of our cable and mobile services businesses depends in large part on our ability to distribute a wide range of appealing, conveniently-scheduled television programming at reasonable rates. We obtain television programming from suppliers pursuant to programming contracts. These suppliers have become, in recent years, vertically integrated and are now more limited in number. The quality and amount of television programming we offer affect the attractiveness of our services to customers and, accordingly, the rates we can charge for these services. We may be unable to maintain key programming contracts at commercially reasonable rates for television programming. Loss of programming contracts, our inability to obtain programming at reasonable rates or our inability to pass-through rate increases to our customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

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In addition, our ability to attract and retain cable customers depends, to a certain extent, upon our capacity to offer quality content, high definition programming, an appealing variety of programming choices and packages, as well as multiplatform distribution and on-demand content, at competitive prices. If the number of specialty channels being offered does not increase at the level and the pace comparable to our competitors, if the content offered on such channels does not receive audience acceptance, or if we are unable to offer multiplatform availability, high definition programming and on-demand content, it may have a significant negative impact on revenues from our cable operations.

We provide our digital television, Internet access and cable telephony services through a single clustered network, which may be more vulnerable to widespread disruption.

We provide our digital television, Internet access and cable telephony services through a primary headend and our analog television services through twelve additional regional headends in our single clustered network. Despite available emergency backup or replacement sites, a failure in our primary headend could prevent us from delivering some of our products and services throughout our network until we have resolved the failure, which may result in significant customer dissatisfaction, loss of revenues and potential civil litigation.

We are dependent upon our information technology systems and those of certain third-parties. The inability to enhance our systems, or to protect them from a security breach or disaster, could have an adverse impact on our financial results and operations.

The day-to-day operation of our business is highly dependent on information technology systems, including those of certain third-party suppliers. An inability to maintain and enhance our existing information technology systems or obtain new systems to accommodate additional customer growth or to support new products and services could have an adverse impact on our ability to acquire new subscribers, retain existing customers, produce accurate and timely billing, generate revenue growth and manage operating expenses, all of which could adversely impact our financial results and position. In addition, although we use industry standard networks and established information technology security and survivability/disaster recovery practices, a security breach or disaster could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We may not be able to protect our services from piracy, which may have an adverse effect on our customer base and lead to a possible decline in revenues.

In our cable, Internet access and telephony operations, we may not be able to protect our services from piracy. We may be unable to prevent unauthorized access to our analog and digital programming, as well as our Internet access services. We use encryption technology to protect our cable signals from unauthorized access and to control programming access based on subscription packages. We may not be able to develop or acquire adequate technology to prevent unauthorized access to our services, which may have an adverse effect on our customer base and lead to a possible decline in our revenues.

Malicious and abusive Internet practices could impair our cable data services.

Our cable data customers utilize our network to access the Internet and, as a consequence, we or they may become victim of common malicious and abusive Internet activities, such as unsolicited mass advertising (or spam) and dissemination of viruses, worms and other destructive or disruptive software. These activities could have adverse consequences on our network and our customers, including deterioration of service, excessive call volume to call centers and damage to our customers’ equipment and data or ours. Significant incidents could lead to customer dissatisfaction and, ultimately, to loss of customers or revenue, in addition to increased costs to service our customers and protect our network. Any significant loss of cable data, customers or revenue or a significant increase in costs of serving those customers could adversely affect our reputation, growth, business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on third-party suppliers and providers for services, information and other items critical to our operations.

We depend on third-party suppliers and providers for certain services, hardware and equipment that are critical to our operations. These materials and services include set-top boxes, cable and telephony modems, servers and routers,

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fibre-optic cable, telephony switches, inter-city links, support structures, software, the “backbone” telecommunications network for our Internet access and telephony services, and construction services for expansion and upgrades of our cable and mobile networks. These services and equipment are available from a limited number of suppliers. If no supplier can provide us with the equipments or services that we require or that comply with evolving Internet and telecommunications standards or that are compatible with our other equipment and software, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In addition, if we are unable to obtain critical equipment, software, services or other items on a timely basis and at an acceptable cost, our ability to offer our products and services and roll out our advanced services may be delayed, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. See also the risk factor “— We are using a technology for which only a limited offer of handsets is available, which could increase our customer acquisition costs and reduce our competitiveness”.

We may be adversely affected by litigation and other claims.

In the normal course, we are involved in various legal proceedings and other claims relating to the conduct of our business. Although, in the opinion of our management, the outcome of current pending claims and other litigation is not expected to have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, liquidity or financial position, a negative outcome in respect of any such claim or litigation could have such an adverse effect. Moreover, the cost of defending against lawsuits and diversion of management’s attention could be significant. See also “Item 8. Financial Information — Legal Proceedings” in this annual report.

We may be adversely affected by strikes and other labour protests.

As of December 31, 2011, approximately 61% of our employees are unionized, and the terms of their employment are governed by one of our five regional collective bargaining agreements. Our two most important collective bargaining agreements, covering our unionized employees in the Montréal and Québec City regions, have terms extending to December 31, 2013. We also have two collective bargaining agreements covering our unionized employees in the Saguenay and Gatineau regions, with terms running through January 31, 2014 and August 31, 2015, respectively, and one other collective bargaining agreement, covering approximately 50 employees of our SETTE inc. subsidiary, which will expire on December 31, 2012.

We cannot predict the outcome of any current or future negotiations relating to labour disputes, union representation or the renewal of our collective bargaining agreements, nor can we assure you that we will not experience work stoppages, strikes, property damage or other forms of labour protests pending the outcome of any current or future negotiations. If our unionized workers engage in a strike or any other form of work stoppage, we could experience a significant disruption to our operations, damage to our property and/or interruption to our services, which could adversely affect our business, assets, financial position, results of operations and reputation. Even if we do not experience strikes or other forms of labour protests, the outcome of labour negotiations could adversely affect our business and results of operations. Such could be the case if current or future labour negotiations or contracts were to further restrict our ability to maximize the efficiency of our operations. In addition, our ability to make short-term adjustments to control compensation and benefits costs is limited by the terms of our collective bargaining agreements.

We could be impacted by increased pension plan liabilities

The economic cycle could have a negative impact on the funding of our defined benefit pension plans and the related expenditures. There is no guarantee that the expenditures and contributions required to fund these pension plans will not increase in the future and therefore negatively impact our operating results and financial position. Risks related to the funding of defined benefit plans may materialize if total obligations with respect to a pension plan exceed the total value of its trust fund. Shortfalls may arise due to lower-than-expected returns on investments, changes in the discount rate used to assess the pension plan’s obligations, and actuarial losses. This risk is mitigated by policies and procedures instituted by us and our pension committees to monitor investment risk and pension plan funding. It is also mitigated by the fact that some of the Company’s defined benefit pension plans are no longer offered to new employees.

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We may be adversely affected by exchange rate fluctuations.

Most of our revenues and expenses are denominated in Canadian dollars. However, certain expenditures, such as the purchase of set-top boxes and cable modems, mobile devices (handsets) and certain capital expenditures, including certain costs related to the development and maintenance of our mobile network, are paid in U.S. dollars. Also, a substantial portion of our debt is denominated in U.S. dollars, and interest, principal and premium, if any, thereon is payable in U.S. dollars. For the purposes of financial reporting, any change in the value of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar during a given financial reporting period would result in a foreign exchange gain or loss on the translation of any unhedged U.S. dollar-denominated debt into Canadian dollars. Consequently, our reported earnings and debt could fluctuate materially as a result of foreign-exchange gains or losses. Although we have entered into transactions to hedge the exchange rate risk with respect to 100% of our U.S. dollar-denominated debt outstanding at December 31, 2011, and we intend in the future to enter into such transactions for new U.S. dollar-denominated debt, these hedging transactions could, in certain circumstances, prove economically ineffective and may not be successful in protecting us against exchange rate fluctuations, or we may in the future be required to provide cash and other collateral to secure our obligations with respect to such hedging transactions, or we may in the future be unable to enter into such transactions on favorable terms or at all.

In addition, certain cross-currency interest rate swaps entered into by the Company and its subsidiaries include an option that allows each party to unwind the transaction on a specific date at the then-fair value.

The fair value of the derivative financial instruments we are party to is estimated using period-end market rates and reflects the amount we would receive or pay if the instruments were terminated and settled at those dates, as adjusted for counterparties’ non-performance risk. At December 31, 2011, the net aggregate fair value of our cross-currency interest rate swaps and foreign-exchange forward contracts was in a net liability position of $219.0 million. See also “Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” of this annual report.

The volatility and disruptions in the capital and credit markets could adversely affect our business, including the cost of new capital, our ability to refinance our scheduled debt maturities and meet our other obligations as they become due.

The capital and credit markets have experienced significant volatility and disruption over the last several years, resulting in periods of extreme upward pressure on the cost of new debt capital and severe restrictions in credit availability for many companies. The disruptions in the capital and credit markets have also resulted in higher interest rates or greater credit spreads on issuance of debt securities and increased costs under credit facilities. Continuation of these disruptions could increase our interest expense, thereby adversely affecting our results of operations and financial position.

Our access to funds under our existing credit facilities is dependent on the ability of the financial institutions that are parties to those facilities to meet their funding commitments. Those financial institutions may not be able to meet their funding commitments if they experience shortages of capital and liquidity or if they experience excessive volumes of borrowing requests within a short period of time. Moreover, the obligations of the financial institutions under our credit facilities are several and not joint and, as a result, a funding default by one or more institutions does not need to be made up by the others.

Longer-term volatility and continued disruptions in the capital and credit markets as a result of uncertainty, changing or increased regulation of financial institutions, reduced alternatives or failures of significant financial institutions could adversely affect our access to the liquidity needed for our businesses in the longer term. Such disruptions could require us to take measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business needs can be arranged. Continued market disruptions and broader economic challenges may lead to lower demand for certain of our products and increased incidences of customers’ inability to pay or timely pay for the services or products that we provide. Events such as these could adversely impact our results of operations, cash flows, financial position and prospects.

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Risks Relating to Our Industry

We are subject to extensive government regulation and policy-making. Changes in government regulation or policies could adversely affect our business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations.

Our operations are subject to extensive government regulation and policy-making in Canada. Laws and regulations govern the issuance, amendment, renewal, transfer, suspension, revocation and ownership of broadcast programming and distribution licenses. With respect to distribution, regulations govern, among other things, the distribution of Canadian and non-Canadian programming services and the maximum fees to be charged to the public in certain circumstances. For the time being, there are significant restrictions on the ability of non-Canadian entities to own or control broadcasting licenses and telecommunications carriers in Canada, although the federal government is currently reviewing whether to relax the foreign ownership restrictions. Our broadcasting distribution and telecommunications operations (including Internet access service) are regulated respectively by the Broadcasting Act (Canada) (the “ Broadcasting Act ”) and the Telecommunications Act and regulations thereunder. The CRTC, which administers the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act, has the power to grant, amend, suspend, revoke and renew broadcasting licenses, approve certain changes in corporate ownership and control, and make regulations and policies in accordance with the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act, subject to certain directions from the federal cabinet. Our wireless and cable operations are also subject to technical requirements, license conditions and performance standards under the Radiocommunication Act (Canada) (the “ Radiocommunication Act ”), which is administered by Industry Canada.

In addition, laws relating to communications, data protection, e-commerce, direct marketing and digital advertising and the use of public records have become more prevalent in recent years. Existing and proposed legislation and regulations, including changes in the manner in which such legislation and regulations are interpreted by courts in Canada, the United States and other jurisdictions may impose limits on our collection and use of certain kinds of information. For a more extensive description of the regulatory environment affecting our business, see “Item 4. Information on the Company — Regulation”.

Changes to the laws, regulations and policies governing our operations, the introduction of new laws, regulations, policies or terms of license, the issuance of new licenses, including additional spectrum licenses to our competitors or changes in the treatment of the tax deductibility of advertising expenditures could have a material adverse effect on our business (including how we provide products and services), financial condition, prospects and results of operations. In addition, we may incur increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. It is difficult to predict in what form laws and regulations will be adopted or how they will be construed by the relevant courts, or the extent to which any changes might adversely affect us.

Industry Canada may not renew our AWS licenses on acceptable terms, or at all.

Our AWS licenses were issued in December 2008 for a term of ten years. At least two years before the end of this term, and any subsequent term, we may apply for a renewed license for a term of up to ten years. AWS license renewal, including whether license fees should apply for a subsequent license term, will be subject to a public consultation process initiated in year eight of the license.

We are required to provide third-party ISPs with access to our cable systems, which may result in increased competition.

The largest cable operators in Canada, including Videotron, have been required by the CRTC to provide third-party ISPs with access to their cable systems at mandated cost-based rates. Several third-party ISPs are interconnected to our cable network and are thereby providing retail Internet access services.

The CRTC also requires large cable carriers, such as us, to allow third party ISPs to provide telephony and networking (LAN/VPN) applications in addition to retail Internet access services. As a result of these requirements, we may experience increased competition for retail cable Internet and residential telephony customers. In addition, because our third-party Internet access rates are regulated by the CRTC, we could be limited in our ability to recover our costs associated with providing this access.

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We are subject to a variety of environmental laws and regulations.

We are subject to a variety of environmental laws and regulations. Certain of our facilities are subject to federal, provincial, state and municipal laws and regulations concerning, among other things, emissions to the air, water and sewer discharge, the handling and disposal of hazardous materials and waste, recycling, the soil remediation of contaminated sites, or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment. In addition, laws and regulations relating to workplace safety and worker health, which, among other things, regulate employee exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace, also govern our operations. Failure to comply with present or future laws or regulations could result in substantial liability to us. Environmental laws and regulations and their interpretation have changed rapidly in recent years and may continue to do so in the future. Our properties, as well as areas surrounding those properties, particularly those in areas of long-term industrial use, may have had historic uses, or may have current uses, in the case of surrounding properties, which may affect our properties and require further study or remedial measures. We cannot provide assurance that all environmental liabilities have been determined, that any prior owner of our properties did not create a material environmental condition not known to us, that a material environmental condition does not otherwise exist as to any of our properties, or that expenditure will not be required to deal with known or unknown contamination.

Concerns about alleged health risks relating to radiofrequency emissions may adversely affect our business.

Some studies have alleged links between radiofrequency emissions from certain wireless devices and cell sites and various health problems or possible interference with electronic medical devices, including hearing aids and pacemakers. All our cell sites comply with applicable laws and we rely on our suppliers to ensure that the network equipment and customer equipment supplied to us meets all applicable safety requirements. While there is no definitive evidence of harmful effects from exposure to radiofrequency emissions when the limits imposed by applicable laws and regulations are complied with, additional studies of radiofrequency emissions are ongoing and we cannot be sure that the results of any such future studies will not demonstrate a link between radiofrequency emissions and health problems.

The current concerns over radiofrequency emissions or perceived health risks of exposure to radiofrequency emissions could lead to additional governmental regulation, diminished use of wireless services, including Videotron’s, or expose us to potential litigation. Any of these could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, revenues, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Relating to our Senior Notes and our Capital Structure

Our indebtedness and significant interest payment requirements could adversely affect our financial condition and therefore make it more difficult for us to fulfill our obligations, including our obligations under our Senior Notes.

We currently have a substantial amount of debt and significant interest payment requirements. As at December 31, 2011, we had $2.0 billion of consolidated long-term debt (excluding Quebecor Media subordinated loans). Our indebtedness could have significant consequences, including the following:

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Although we have significant indebtedness, we have approximately $575.0 million available for additional borrowings under our existing credit facilities, and indentures governing our outstanding Senior Notes permit us to incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future. If we incur additional debt, the risks we now face as a result of our leverage could intensify. For more information regarding our long-term debt and its maturities, see Notes 17 and 24 of our audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2011 included under “Item 18. Financial Statements” of this annual report. See also the risk factor “— Restrictive covenants in our outstanding debt instruments may reduce our operating and financial flexibility, which may prevent us from capitalizing on certain business opportunities”.

Restrictive covenants in our outstanding debt instruments may reduce our operating and financial flexibility, which may prevent us from capitalizing on certain business opportunities.

Our senior secured credit facilities and the respective indentures governing our outstanding Senior Notes contain a number of operating and financial covenants restricting our ability to, among other things:

If we are unable to comply with these covenants and are unable to obtain waivers from our creditors, we would be unable to make additional borrowings under our credit facilities, our indebtedness under these agreements would be in default and could, if not cured or waived, result in an acceleration of such indebtedness and cause cross-defaults under our other debt, including our Senior Notes. If our indebtedness is accelerated, we may not be able to repay our indebtedness or borrow sufficient funds to refinance it, and any such prepayment or refinancing could adversely affect our financial condition. In addition, if we incur additional debt in the future or refinance existing debt, we may be subject to additional covenants, which may be more restrictive than those to which we are currently subject. Even if we are able to comply with all applicable covenants, the restrictions on our ability to manage our business in our sole discretion could adversely affect our business by, among other things, limiting our ability to take advantage of financings, mergers, acquisitions and other corporate opportunities that we believe would be beneficial to us.

We may be required from time to time to refinance certain of our indebtedness. Our inability to do so on favorable terms, or at all, could have a material adverse effect on us.

We may be required from time to time to refinance certain of our existing debt instruments at or prior to their maturity. Our ability to obtain additional financing to repay such existing debt at maturity will depend upon a number of factors, including prevailing market conditions and our operating performance. The tightening of credit availability and the challenges affecting global capital markets could also limit our or our subsidiaries’ ability to refinance existing maturities. There can be no assurance that any such financing will be available to us on favorable terms or at all. See also the risk factor “— The volatility and disruptions in the capital and credit markets could adversely affect our business, including the cost of new capital, our ability to refinance our scheduled debt maturities and meet our other obligations as they become due”.

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We may not be able to finance an offer to purchase our Senior Notes in the event of a change of control as required by the respective indentures governing our Senior Notes because we may not have sufficient funds at the time of the change of control or our senior secured credit facilities may not allow the repurchases.

If we experience a change of control, as that term is defined in the indenture governing our Senior Notes, or if we dispose of significant assets under specified circumstances, we may be required to make an offer to repurchase all of our Senior Notes prior to maturity. We can provide no assurance that we will have sufficient funds or be able to arrange for additional financing to repurchase our Senior Notes following such change of control or asset sale. There is no sinking fund with respect to our outstanding Senior Notes.

In addition, a change of control would be an event of default under our senior secured credit facilities. Any future credit agreement or other agreement relating to our senior indebtedness to which we become a party may contain similar provisions. Our failure to offer to repurchase our Senior Notes upon a change of control would, pursuant to the terms of the respective indentures governing our outstanding Senior Notes, constitute an event of default under such indentures. Any such default could, in turn, constitute an event of default under future senior indebtedness, any of which may cause the related debt to be accelerated after the expiry of any applicable notice or grace periods. If debt were to be accelerated, we may not have sufficient funds to repurchase our Senior Notes and repay the debt.

Canadian bankruptcy and insolvency laws may impair the trustees’ ability to enforce remedies under the indentures governing our Senior Notes or the Senior Notes themselves.

The rights of the trustees, who represent the holders of our Senior Notes, to enforce remedies could be delayed by the restructuring provisions of applicable Canadian federal bankruptcy, insolvency and other restructuring legislation if the benefit of such legislation is sought with respect to us. For example, both the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada) and the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (Canada) (the “ CCAA ”) contain provisions enabling an insolvent person to obtain a stay of proceedings against its creditors and to file a proposal to be voted on by the various classes of its affected creditors. A restructuring proposal, if accepted by the requisite majorities of each affected class of creditors, and if approved by the relevant Canadian court, would be binding on all creditors within each affected class, including those creditors that did not vote to accept the proposal. Moreover, this legislation, in certain instances, permits the insolvent debtor to retain possession and administration of its property, subject to court oversight, even though it may be in default under the applicable debt instrument, during the period that the stay against proceedings remains in place. In addition, it may be possible in certain circumstances to restructure certain debt obligations under the corporate governing statute applicable to the debtor.

The powers of the court under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada) and particularly under the CCAA have been interpreted and exercised broadly so as to protect a restructuring entity from actions taken by creditors and other parties. Accordingly, we cannot predict whether payments under our outstanding Senior Notes would be made during any proceedings in bankruptcy, insolvency or other restructuring, whether or when the trustees could exercise their respective rights under the respective indentures governing our Senior Notes or whether and to what extent holders of our Senior Notes would be compensated for any delays in payment, if any, of principal, interest and costs, including the fees and disbursements of the respective trustees.

There is no public market for our Senior Notes.

There is currently no established trading market for our issued and outstanding Senior Notes and we do not intend to apply for listing of any of our Senior Notes on any securities exchange or to arrange for any quotation on any automated dealer quotation systems. No assurance can be given as to the prices or liquidity of, or trading markets for, any series of our Senior Notes. The liquidity of any market for our Senior Notes will depend upon the number of holders of our Senior Notes, the interest of securities dealers in making a market in our Senior Notes, prevailing interest rates, the market for similar securities and other factors, including general economic conditions, our financial condition and performance and our prospects. The absence of an active market for our Senior Notes could adversely affect their market price and liquidity.

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In addition, the market for non-investment grade debt has historically, including recently, been subject to disruptions that have caused volatility in prices of securities. It is possible that the market for our Senior Notes will be subject to such disruptions. Any such disruptions may have a negative effect on a holder’s ability to sell our Senior Notes, regardless of our prospects and financial performance.

Non-U.S. holders of our Senior Notes are subject to restrictions on the transfer or resale of our notes.

Although we have registered certain series of our Senior Notes under the Securities Act, we did not, and we do not intend to, qualify our notes by prospectus in Canada, and, accordingly, the notes remain subject to restrictions on resale and transfer in Canada. In addition, non-U.S. holders remain subject to restrictions imposed by the jurisdiction in which the holder is resident.

U.S. investors in our Senior Notes may have difficulties enforcing civil liabilities.

We are incorporated under the laws of the Province of Québec. Substantially all of our directors, controlling persons and officers are residents of Canada or other jurisdictions outside the United States, and all or a substantial portion of their assets and substantially all of our assets are located outside the United States. We have agreed, under the terms of the respective indentures governing our Senior Notes (other than our 7  ¹ / 8 % Senior Notes due January 15, 2020 and our 6  ⁷ / 8 % Senior Notes due July 15, 2021), to accept service of process in any suit, action or proceeding with respect to the indentures or such notes brought in any federal or state court located in New York City by an agent designated for such purpose, and to submit to the jurisdiction of such courts in connection with such suits, actions or proceedings. Nevertheless, it may be difficult for holders of our Senior Notes to effect service of process within the United States upon directors, controlling persons, officers and experts who are not residents of the United States or to enforce against us or them in the United States, judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws or other laws of the United States. In addition, there is doubt as to the enforceability in Canada of liabilities predicated solely upon U.S. federal or state securities law against us or against our directors, controlling persons and officers who are not residents of the United States, in original actions or in actions for enforcement of judgments of courts of the United States.

We are controlled by Quebecor Media and its interests may differ from those of holders of the notes.

All of our issued and outstanding common shares are held by Quebecor Media. As a result, Quebecor Media controls our policies and operations. The interests of Quebecor Media, as our sole common shareholder, may conflict with the interests of the holders of our outstanding notes. In addition, actions taken by Quebecor Media, as well as its financial condition, matters over which we have no control, may affect us.

Also, Quebecor Media is a holding company with no significant assets other than its equity interests in its subsidiaries. Its principal source of cash needed to pay its own obligations is the cash that we and other subsidiaries generate from operations and borrowings. We have the ability to pay significant dividends under the terms of our indebtedness and applicable law and currently expect to make distributions to our shareholder in the future, subject to the terms of our indebtedness and applicable law. See “Item 8. Financial Information — Dividend Policy” elsewhere in this annual report.