May 2, 2024

CEO remarks from the BCE 2024 annual general shareholder meeting

Good morning, everyone. I am pleased to be speaking with you today from Montreal.

This city is Bell’s hometown and mine, too. It is fitting that we are broadcasting from here.

Bell’s success has always been thanks to our agility in the face of changing market dynamics and shifts in the economic and regulatory landscape.

Our purpose is to advance how Canadians connect with each other and the world. Our six strategic imperatives support this purpose:

• build the best networks;
• drive growth with innovative services;
• deliver the most compelling content;
• champion customer experience;
• operate with agility and cost efficiency; and
• engage and invest in our people and create a sustainable future

I want to first thank Team Bell for their impressive ability to live up to our purpose and strategic imperatives.

As Gord mentioned, Bell is accelerating its transformation from a traditional telco to a company focussed on communications, tech services and digital media.

This is a company-wide effort that touches everything we do – from the customer experience to the products and services we offer to the way we work together.

We’re embracing the transformation mindset, making the right near-term decisions while putting in place a solid foundation for long-term growth.

2023 was another year of progress for Bell.

We connected more homes and businesses to our fibre and wireless networks.

We continued to enhance the customer experience by adopting digital solutions.

And Bell Media delivered Canada’s most compelling news, entertainment and sports – pivoting to digital-first experiences in response to audience preferences.

Transformation in action

At Bell, we offer customers the best products and services, backed by the best networks.

Last year, we expanded our pure fibre network by 633,000 locations and we expanded 5G and 5G+ wireless coverage.

For the second year in a row, Ookla recognized Bell Fibe as the fastest internet and Wi-Fi in the country. And, Global Wireless Solutions ranked Bell 5G Canada’s fastest 5G network for the third year in a row.

As networks have expanded, prices for internet and wireless services have declined. Internet prices are down more than 15% year-over-year and, since 2020, wireless prices have come down by 45%.

In fact, Statistics Canada has identified the telecommunications sector as a leader in the fight against inflation – at a time when Canadians feel they are paying more and getting less for everything else. 

Today, Canadians pay consistently less for wireless than in the US, as confirmed this week by the federal government’s annual price comparison study.

Bell currently offers a 75GB plan for $60, compared to $104 on AT&T. That is more than $40 less for the same amount of data, superior network quality and better coverage.

Great networks and lower prices are just the beginning. Here are a few more examples of how Bell’s transformation is driving change:

• Our MyBell app makes it easier for our customers to access their bill, manage their services, and access the Virtual Repair tool to fix common issues;
• At home, self-install offers a fast, convenient and safe way to connect to our fibre network;
• And we have enhanced our outage notifications – helping customers stay informed during extreme weather events. 

We are transforming the way we sell through innovative partnerships that reach customers in more places.

Earlier this year, Bell joined forces with Best Buy Canada to operate 165 The Source stores, rebranded Best Buy Express, that will launch later this year.

Through our partnership with Staples, we are reaching more small- and medium-sized business owners.

A few weeks ago, we launched a partnership with No Frills to support budget-conscious wireless consumers with No Name Mobile. And more.

As we go through our own transformation, Bell’s Business Markets team is developing end-to-end expertise internally that we can then sell to business clients.

Here’s how we help.

Most large Canadian companies are Bell’s clients and, like us, most of them are undertaking their own digital transformation. Our networks, the best in Canada, are the clear option for businesses in transformation.

To transform, these companies also need access to cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and ServiceNow. Bell has strategic partnerships with all of them.

But moving apps and platforms to the cloud requires IT expertise.

And that’s where our acquisition of Montreal-based FX Innovation comes in. FXI has a particular expertise in helping customers move to the cloud – transitioning their workflows and processes from the old way of doing things to the new way.

And, of course, all of this requires the best security. And we offer that too.

In fact, we are the only Canadian telecom to partner with SentinelOne, a global leader in AI-powered security.

The best content, live and on-demand

Bell Media continues to deliver Canada’s most compelling content in English and French – when, where and how Canadians want it.

This includes the English- and French-language versions of The Traitors: Canada/Les Traîtres; Crave Originals hit Letterkenny and its spinoff Shoresy; Survivor Québec; and The Amazing Race Canada.

Canadians continue to embrace Crave. We are the number one Canadian streaming service and 2023 was the most watched year in its history.

We offer 13,000 hours of francophone content on Crave and growing.

Canadians want access to content on digital platforms and, in response, we want our content to be easy to find.

We are exploring new digital distribution opportunities including our recent introduction of FAST channels for key news, sports and entertainment content.

CTV publishes approximately three times more digital news stories in an average day than when Bell acquired it. These stories are available across our lineup of news applications, like the BNN Bloomberg app, the CTV News app and the CP24 app.

Soon, for the first time ever, CTV National News will have dedicated journalists telling stories from all 10 provinces.

And the network now airs more original national newscasts than at any point in its 60 plus year history as well as 25,000 hours of local news per year.

Noovo Info serves five markets across Québec. Since it launched in 2021, the Noovo Info newsroom has grown 25%.

The road ahead

I am optimistic about Bell’s future. We are hyper-focussed on our customers. We offer the best fibre internet, Canada’s fastest 5G network, a superior cloud TV platform and Canada’s best streaming service. We are making it easier for customers to purchase and control their services. Our end-to-end business solutions keep getting better.

Like so many businesses across Canada, we are facing challenges including persistent inflation, high interest rates and their impact on consumers. Our response is to transform.

The success of our transformation will allow us to remain competitive, deliver solid results and be well-positioned for the future. Exciting possibilities lie ahead in areas like AI, advanced advertising, cloud and cybersecurity services and more.

Thank you for your trust and support.