Our Strategy

Our Strategy

Our goal is to be recognized by customers as Canada’s leading communications company. Our primary business objective is to maximize subscribers, revenues, operating profit, free cash flow and return on invested capital by further enhancing our position as one of Canada's foremost providers of comprehensive and innovative communications services to residential and business customers.

We are pursuing five clear strategic imperatives:

1. Improve customer Service
2. Accelerate wireless
3. Leverage wireline momentum
4. Invest in broadband networks and services
5. Achieve a competitive cost structure

These strategic imperatives are rooted in efficiently and cost effectively delivering consistent, reliable, high-quality communications services to customers, proactively managing legacy revenue erosion and profitably expanding our customer base.

Strategic imperative 1: Improve customer service

Winning customers and keeping them is key to Bell’s success, and to achieving our goal. To get better at both, we must deliver a better overall customer experience at every level – and Bell is investing in front-line service, broadband networks and distribution channels in order to do exactly that. We believe that this focus on improving the total customer experience by delivering the service basics in terms of call center efficiency, meeting commitments for delivering new services, timely repair, superior network quality and process improvements to simplify customer transactions will help differentiate us from our competitors and gain long-term customer loyalty.

The most prominent service developments are the programs we developed as part of the 100-day plan in July 2008 that focused on delivering a better customer experience at every level for our residential customers. All have gained traction quickly, and all make Bell’s home services even more attractive versus the competition.

• Same Day Next Day service: Bell technicians are dispatched to ensure residential service problems are fixed on the same day or the very next – at no charge.
• Express Install: premium service offering customers next-day installation of Bell TV, Bell Internet and Bell Home phone for a single fee, whether customers get one, two or all three services installed.
• Internet Full Install: hassle-free way for new customers to ensure their high-speed Bell Internet service is up and operating from Day One – including setup of email addresses and system optimization.

Strategic imperative 2: Accelerate wireless

Bell’s wireless business is a key driver of its growth and financial performance. This is supported by an attractive array of data-capable devices, increasing market presence, growth in data penetration and usage and ongoing enhancements to its 3G network. As part of its strategy to improve its share of industry gross activations, Bell is rapidly enhancing and expanding its distribution channels to make it easier for Canadians to buy its wireless products. With more than 750 stores across the country, the recent addition of national consumer electronics retailer The Source will make Bell’s distribution network the largest in the Canadian communications business.

We already deliver coverage to a majority of the Canadian population with our existing Third Generation (3G) EVDO network, providing Bell customers access to the largest 3G network in Canada. By early 2010, we’ll have added a national broadband HSPA network alongside EVDO, providing our customers with the widest possible choice in 3G wireless products and services. HSPA also sets the stage for our move to the global Fourth Generation (4G) high-speed wireless standard in coming years.

In May 2009, Bell announced the acquisition by Bell Mobility of the 50% stake in Virgin Mobile Canada not already owned by Bell, along with an exclusive, long-term licensing agreement with the Virgin Group for continued use of the Virgin Mobile brand in Canada. This acquisition enables Bell Mobility to be uniquely flexible in the competitive wireless marketplace, maximizing network, handset, distribution and global roaming efficiencies, and enhancing the growth of a leading youth brand in the Canadian wireless industry.

Strategic imperative 3: Leverage wireline momentum

Bell is the largest local exchange carrier in Canada operating more than 7 million local access lines. Bell is winning back an increasing number of residential customers, with more of them buying multiple products from us. Our rate of local line losses improved to 5.4% in 2008, highlighting Bell’s position as the only major North American telco that has been successful in slowing the rate of residential local line losses.

Bell is Canada’s largest digital television provider with over 1.8 million subscribers on a direct-to-home satellite platform. Moreover, Bell is the sole telecommunications company in North America with a national video offering allowing for a quadruple-play bundle of communication services. Bell TV also continues to grow its lead in High Definition channels, which will accelerate further with the launches of the newest Bell-dedicated Nimiq satellites. And we continue to enhance our #1 position in high-speed Internet with innovative new services and popular new music and other entertainment offerings.

Canadian business runs on Bell. We have established relationships with a majority of Canada’s 800 largest corporations, delivering the most mission-critical applications in the government, financial, transportation and other corporate sectors, and we continue to lead in the small and medium business (SMB) marketplace.

Strategic imperative 4: Invest in broadband networks and services

Continued investment in fibre and ongoing expansion and enhancement of our high-speed wireless network will greatly increase the number of broadband customers we win and retain. Overall, Bell has invested close to $3 billion in its broadband Internet and high-speed wireless networks in the last four years alone.

We are greatly accelerating the rollout of our high-speed Fibre to the Node (FTTN) network, with about 2.4 million homes covered at the end of 2008 and 5 million expected to be passed by 2012. FTTN is a key driver of improved Internet product performance, customer retention and higher average revenue per customer.

Bell’s multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) network is best-in-class across North America, offering modern IP support for major Enterprise users. Our investments in our IP core have dramatically reduced outages and repair times for Enterprise customers and contributed to the solid performance of this business.

Strategic imperative 5: Achieve a competitive cost structure

Bell is focused on ensuring its costs match or beat those of its competitors. We are building the most cost-effective structure possible and maximizing efficiency and productivity in all our processes and operations.

We invite you to listen to our most recent conference calls and event presentations for full updates on the progress we are making with respect to each imperative.