BCE Inc (BCE.TO), Canada's largest telecommunications company, reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as it added customers and earned more per subscriber in its wireless business.

Bell, as the company is known to customers, is locked in a fight for wireless market share with national rivals Rogers Communications Inc and Telus Corp as well as smaller regional players.

Montreal-based BCE agreed to buy Manitoba Telecom Services Inc for about $3.1 billion in May to expand its services in the western Canadian province.

The deal has won approvals from both sets of shareholders and a provincial court, but still needs a nod from the country's competition watchdog, its telecom regulator, and the federal government.

The company said it added a net 69,848 postpaid wireless customers in the second quarter, up from 61,033 a year earlier.

BCE's blended average revenue per user increased 2.9 per cent to $64.32, helped by a larger proportion of 2-year contracts, a higher postpaid smartphone subscriber mix, and increased data usage in its wireless business.

The company said it was on track to meet its 2016 forecast.

BCE's net income attributable to shareholders rose to 2.5 per cent to $778 million in the second quarter, from $759 million a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 94 Canadian cents per share. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 91 Canadian cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

Operating revenue rose marginally to $5.34 billion. 

BNN is a division of Bell Media, which is owned by BCE.