Canada’s largest cable operators enjoyed tremendous growth since entering the telephone market, and have more than quadrupled their client base since 2005, according to a report released Friday by Statistics Canada.

The cable industry had 927,463 telephone clients in August 2006, the most recent month for which data was available, compared to only 211,683 a year earlier, according to the federal agency.

Meanwhile, the number of cable Internet subscribers reached four million, up 17.2%. The report noted that high-speed Internet services continue to be a ‘major growth factor’ for cablers.

Traditional cable television also did well, as the number of subscribers reached 7.8 million in 2006, up 2.2% from the previous year.

Providing Internet access generated $1.7 billion in revenue, while telephone services produced revenue of nearly $268 million in 2006, according to the report. Over in television, revenues increased by 7.5% to nearly $4 billion.

Overall, StatsCan says cable operators earned $1.5 billion in profits before interest and taxes — a rise of 11.6% from the previous year.

Meanwhile, satellite television providers also benefited in 2006, as subscriptions expanded by 5.5% from 2005. Revenues totaled $1.7 billion — an increase of 17.5%.