Hi, good morning. I'm Sebastiano Petti, and I cover the Canadian, Canadian communication space here at J.P. Morgan. I'm joined by Curtis Millen, CFO of Bell Canada. Curtis, thanks for joining us.
Good morning. Thanks for having me.
You've been in the CFO seat since September 2023, but with BCE for over 15 years. Perhaps start by updating us on the near-term priorities for BCE as you navigate this more competitive industry backdrop.
Yeah, it's interesting, 'cause the old strategy is a bit of a new strategy. We've been on a fiber build-out strategy here for 12, 13 years, kind of a similar time to when the American telco started building out fiber. We just happened to continue that journey all the way through. So I do think fiber is our best strategic asset, and it'll continue to be our best growth asset. Ultimately, plan to, at the end of 2025, hit 8.3 million fiber homes passed, and that's in the 80% range of our total footprint, total fiber plan, which is quite a big development. Obviously, there have been a couple of developments in the Canadian telco cable landscape, but one of the big ones is that we now have enough fiber that we're competitive.
I mean, that's how you said... I know I, I drink the blue Kool-Aid, but where we have fiber broadband, we win. That's, that's what happens in the marketplace. That's why we have net adds, and a little bit different than the U.S. market, we're a much more bundled world up in, up in Canada. So having access for us, for our consumers and customers to get access to our fiber network, which still has an advantage in a moment in time. Hopefully, it's a long moment in time. So that's driving growth for us, and it's driving bundled opportunities for us, which just reduces churn. So the big story for us, again, is monetizing the fiber footprint that we've built out over the last 13 years.
So what do you see as the biggest opportunity? Is it just continued selling of the fiber as you look out over the next maybe 12, 24 months?
Yeah, I'd say a few things. I, I do think that's the biggest opportunity. I mean, ultimately, we have 1.5 million new fiber locations in the last two years. We certainly don't have 1.5 million subs in those, in those fiber footprint. So, you know, it, it is, it is a bit of a ramp-up. It takes two, three years to, to ramp up and get to... I mean, I wouldn't say equilibrium, 'cause I think we're still pulling incremental share where we have that even after a couple of years, but, I mean, there is a ramp-up. So even if we stopped our program today, which we're not, we'd still have more growth on fiber. And then ultimately, it's pull-through, right? In a world of, in a world of, customers, right?
I mean, the way I think about it as a customer is, you just want your stuff to work, right? Whether it's wireline, whether it's Wi-Fi, whether it's wireless, you just want your stuff to work, right? My nine-year-old, he just wants his stuff to work, and if it doesn't work, right, he's unhappy about it. So I do find, I do find the high broadband, broadband usage in the home seems to be the most important driver of, customer behavior and customer buying decisions, which is a little bit different than 10 years ago, where we all thought you'd sell internet separately from wireless. It does seem to be heading down the bundle path more and more, especially in Canada. And that's where, given our fiber footprint and our wireline coverage, it, it drives an advantage for us.
So I think that just, you know, the rest of the growth question, I think there are two other venues there. Well, three other venues. One, you know, we're just gonna keep ripping out costs. It won't be as dramatic as announcing nearly 5,000 headcount reduction, 10% of our workforce, but the ability to leverage technology. And it's not just us. I mean, everyone else is going through the same kind of workflow automation, digital automation, which is a BBM sales opportunity for us. But just internally, you know, ripping out these costs and being more efficient is better for the customers, especially as you push more online digital transactions, but it's just more efficient for us.
So leverage digital, leverage technology, leverage the fiber footprint, which is just more cost-efficient for us, and it winds up driving cost savings and better customer service. So that, I think, is just a trend that's gonna continue for us as well.
Yeah. So maybe real quick, because convergence has been a topic for sure this week at the conference. But so we have some U.S. guys that are maybe converged 15-20%. You know, if you look at Verizon, I think that's kind of the number they've thrown out. A little bit of debate on where convergence goes in the U.S. And so, you know, AT&T is, you know, something that, they're a little bit more focused on perhaps than peers. Maybe, you know, we have Verizon at 15%, European level, 60%-70%, maybe. Where do you think the Canadian market falls in that, you know, spectrum in terms of, you know, the number of, you know, I guess, bundled, converged, bundled subscribers across the, you know, Canadian landscape?
Yeah, I'd say we're gonna be in between. Again, you know, we've diverged strategies, U.S. versus Canada, right? I mean, the U.S. started building fiber and U-verse back in the day, and we started that journey out in the Atlantic. We just continue that journey, right? I mean, it does take time to build out over 8 million fiber locations. It's gonna take time, but there's a reason why our cable competitors are building out fiber in new builds, right? It's not because they don't think DOCSIS is good. They just think fiber is better. So they're building it out, and again, it's a different market, you know? Our telco brethren out West, they've built out fiber, we've built out fiber, and honestly, it's a game changer.
It's such a cliché, but for us, it completely changes the way we can go to market, it completely changes the way that we can sell, and it changes the way that we think about the household as opposed to products. Right? And I think it's a subtle shift, but it's an important shift in mentality, and you've kind of seen it over the last few years internally. But all of our sales structure is now organized to sell multiple products into the same household, as opposed to, "Okay, let's count how many wireless subs, let's count how many internet subs." I mean, we still do that because it's, they're useful metrics, but ultimately, it's how many customers do you have? How much revenue can you generate out of that household?
Yep, and we'll definitely come back to some of the fiber strategy later on as well. So shifting to wireless, you know, obviously, competition remains a big topic in the Canadian market. While we did see some pullback in promotional intensity in April, competition remains somewhat elevated versus perhaps typical second quarter, you know, seasonality or promotions. Against that backdrop, BCE has remained, you know, focused on premium loadings. Can you update us on the competitive environment in wireless thus far in 2Q, and maybe any other, you know, demonstrable changes since you guys reported results?
I think more the same. I think, you know, rationality in the industry ebbs and flows a little bit, probably like every other industry and, and geography. You know, it would be great if everyone was rational all the time, but, you know, we report subs, so end of quarter, folks are buying subs. I, I do think what's different in, in my mind anyway is... And again, it ties back to the question you asked about kind of bundled and, and convergence. Y-you know, internet churn is lower than wireless churn. Bundled internet and wireless, like, the more products you have, lower churn, becomes for the customer. But you're-- w-we're also in the world where I, I feel there's a bit of a bifurcation between wireless subs. There are...
The last 10, 20, give it a number, gross adds that you'll pick up in any quarter, and for us and any of the, any of the other customers, I mean, they're not really gonna be long-term bundled subs, you know? And, and there's, there's no long-term business at a CAD 35 postpaid ARPU. So those subs, you know, 6, 9, 12, 24 months, like, they're going to be churning out anyway for whatever the best deal is at the time because they're not, they're not focused on quality network, they're focused on, solely on price. So I, I don't think the industry is better off chasing down toward the last 10, 20 incremental loads just to say they got a bunch of loads but didn't make any money off of it.
So we're really trying to stay away from that part, focus on the bundled aspect, without giving away a lot of discount. Just, you know, bundle up to capture the churn and to drive our, you know, we would say, main brand, superior product, folks that are gonna actually use their products and not just be red tag shopping all the time.
You talked about on the call, I think, or in the press release, talked about expectations for mobile phone ARPU, you know, moderating growth, or to decline versus moderating growth prior because of some of this competition. So maybe help us think about, you know, how we should think about promotional intensity or how the team is thinking about promotional intensity for the balance of the year. And then, again, you know, not necessarily chasing these low-end subscribers, but, you know, how does the Canadian market, I guess, evolve from this point, if maybe some of your competitors out there probably don't necessarily have the same view in terms of pricing?
That's fine. Look, others are... Whether they're being rational or not, we all define rationality a little bit differently, right? But when you're not competing with the same quality of assets, you've got to pull different levers. So, you know, we understand that, and it's not like competition is new, so we'll continue to compete, we'll continue to get our share. I think what's different, and I think it's different than in the U.S. also, we're a little less mature in terms of overall handset penetration, 5G handset penetration, and new to category, new to Canada, has been a real growth driver for the total industry. And frankly, we've underperformed in that over the last decade. I think you go all the way back to the GSM network.
I mean, we just didn't have a wireless network 15-odd years ago, I guess just a bit longer than 15 years ago, that was compatible with international roaming. So we've been at a disadvantage, but I think we're seeing a bit of momentum now. And for us, that's really just a tailwind. We don't have to dominate that market. We just have to be okay, and for us, that's a win. So I do think in the industry, it's a little bit different in that there's actual just headline growth, and let's capture our share of the new to category and continue bundling, continue growing the rest of our subbase. I think there's growth for everybody.
Yeah. So you brought up the new-to-Canada market, and so population growth remains robust in Canada.
Mm-hmm.
You're, you know, you are taking more share in the new to Canada segment. It hasn't been a strategic focus for yours over the last several years, but on the call, Mirco talked about putting the right, quote, "building blocks in place" to accelerate that share growth. Can you help us think about what those are? Maybe, you know, timing or realization or milestones from here and, you know, if and, you know, when should we maybe expect to see that move the needle a little bit more on the loading side?
Well, I hope, I hope moving the needle as soon as possible. I think it does take time, though, right? I mean, these are kind of community initiatives, and I think distribution plays a big part of that. And it's local partnerships, local, whether it's dealers or under our banners. It's still... It's in the community, and serving the community. And I do think some of the partnerships with, you know, the Dollaramas, the Staples, the No Frills, that helps us, right? I mean, that really should accelerate. You know, the Air Canada partnership we have, giving away eSIMs on planes, that gets a lot of press 'cause it's Air Canada, and it's a bit splashy.
But I actually think it's the blocking and tackling of distribution in community, in market, and frankly, out of country, in home markets before folks move or travel or become students in Canada. So I think distribution is quite a big one, and then ultimately, turning our sales engine to focus on it, right? I mean, not all new to category are the same. They have different credit ratings. Some have fantastic credit, some are just building up their credit, just like the rest of the community.
Right.
I think industry-wide, we've looked at new to category a bit more monolithic or in a bit more monolithic manner, and we're being much more flexible here in terms of how we go after that new segment of customers.
Yeah, and so the no name mobile partnership is an example.
Yeah.
Any update on that? How meaningful, perhaps, could that be?
Well, a little too early to say. I mean, all signs point to that being quite successful. Strategically, it's certainly on brand. It makes a lot of sense. Now we just need to execute.
And so one dynamic of the wireless market that has been a little bit more of, you know, a challenge, perhaps recently, just given your share there, has been the business wireless side.
Yeah.
So you're facing macro headwinds as, you know, perhaps Canadian enterprises rationalize a bit, but also more competition. So can you help us think what portion of the base does business wireless comprise? And qualitatively, can you help us think about maybe the trend in business wireless subscribers over the last, you know, maybe couple quarters, year-over-year?
Yeah, you're not wrong. Business wireless has been more challenged than consumer wireless. I think, again, our strength is the relationship we have with enterprises in Canada, and it's a bundle of service that we're selling them. So it's... Again, it's priced differently, it sounds different, but ultimately, we have customer relationships, and we wanna sell them as much as we can, right? Quite simply. And I think what's happening is, you know, some of the products, put them in legacy bucket or give it another name, right? Where there's a bit more negotiating pressure on some of those items while we ramp up kind of the growth services in BBM, right? So BBM is just our enterprise segment.
So if you're talking to customers, is base connectivity the most important thing they're thinking about, or is it transition to cloud, workflow management, digital transition? And I think the latter is becoming much more important for CIOs and up, frankly, and I do think that's a growth vector for us. I mean, you saw that we made an acquisition of a company called FXi, right? And that's ultimately install ServiceNow, and it's, you know... We've been talking about cloud in the U.S. forever, right? I mean, everybody's talking about cloud, but this is the team that will actually transfer your compute into the cloud and update your processes so that you're not just lifting and shifting to the cloud.
I do think there's a bunch of growth there, and then that wraps around the cybersecurity side of it, and it wraps around our network. So I do think that bundle is quite compelling, and since the acquisition, we've seen pretty good growth there and in a very different type of discussion with our end customers. So ultimately, long way of saying the bundle of services will keep changing over time. I think we do have the capabilities to deliver what our customers are looking for, but again, the overall revenue and EBITDA is what we care about, and the product mix is just gonna keep changing over time.
Yeah, so just jumping to business wireline for a second, since you touched on it. The decline in legacy revenue, you know, again, continues to be a bit of a headwind, but at the same time, you touched on perhaps, you know, the business solutions services revenue, right? Had a nice organic growth-
Yeah
... at 12% in the quarter, and I think now at a CAD 500 million annualized run rate, I think, was what you guys discussed. You touched on some of that with cloud, security, managed automation. Help us think about the growth drivers there and maybe how, you know, some... Maybe double-click on the conversations that you're having about next gen solutions with some of your enterprise partners and customers.
Yeah, I think that's right. What's interesting, we'll see how it plays out, but it seems like any one of those products can actually pull through the rest, where, you know, traditionally you think, okay, well, it's connectivity, and then you can sell through other products. In this world, whether, you know, if the customer is focused on transition to the cloud or workflow automation or their cybersecurity product, it winds up being a, again, a bit of a buzzword, but, you know, it winds up being a holistic discussion because they all tie together, right? And we have our own IP, but we can also. We have partnerships with kind of the leads in all of those different avenues, and we can implement it.
So whether it's kind of the MS side, the PS side, the product side, you know, enterprises aren't that much different from consumers. You just want it to work, and then if something does go bump in the night, you need a number to call, and that group will go out and fix it. So, you know, the strength of relationships, the reputational strength, will continue to help us keep driving the newer products and newer services, and frankly, helping our customers solve problems. I mean, fundamentally, that's what we do. We help our customers solve problems so that they can run their business and not have to worry about, you know, the solutions that we bring to bear.
So I think it's more of the same, but the conversations are taking place at different levels in the organization now, as you start talking about, you know, longer term transition plans and beyond just connectivity, which is a bit more CIO level or even below sometimes.
Yeah. Okay. So shifting back to the consumer and, you know, convergence. So we talked about BCE's long-term fiber to the home or, you know, fiber to the premise strategy, and particularly driving increased penetration, which seems to be a focus or, you know, Mirco has talked about. So you reported record internet net adds in 1Q24, and noted, I think, a 39% increase in bundled sales where BCE fiber was available. And so despite the more competitive wireline market, it was the best result since 2007. So help us think about, I guess, how sustainable are these trends in the internet business, and think about perhaps, you know, the converged strategy is meant to drive lower mobile churn over time. You kind of talked a little bit about that.
When do we perhaps begin to see that, you know, you know, that converged opportunity and that better CLV kind of start to come through on the wireline side?
Yeah, I think you continue to see it and continue to accelerate. Like, all of the metrics, the more products you have with a customer, the lower the churn, and it actually holds. I mean, if you sell four products to five products, there's actually a churn benefit going from four to five, from five to six. So, you know, the churn benefit of products as kind of we're all consumers, if the consumer can just hit the easy button, they do, right? And I do, and it's kind of human behavior. So that I think continues. And again, what's different in the Canadian industry is, you know, while others were pulling back their capital spend, our fiber deployment actually accelerated during COVID, right?
Again, it wasn't an experiment anybody would want in Canada or the U.S. or globally, but it kind of proved out that, you know, as folks are working from home, you're... You have teenagers, your, you know, your spouse or partner is working from home also, like, broadband, like, fast broadband in the house is quite important now. You know, I'm not, I'm not working from home a day or two days a week without fast internet, right? And fast, reliable internet. It's just become a much more important product. I think it was always kind of ramping up to be the most important product, but I... Certainly, that accelerated. So what's changed is we win where we have fiber. Where we have copper network or fiber to the node, it, it'll be less competitive. Copper, honestly, is not competitive. If...
It's a service that provides, but it's not as good as fiber by a long shot. So what happens is, you know, we go from 30%-40% fiber coverage of the cable footprint. Now we're, you know, north of 60%, heading towards 70%. It's a very different world of how we can market, what we can sell, and the growth that that drives. So ultimately, wireless has always been competitive for the last 15 years, but our wireline footprint is now pulling through.
Okay. So again-
We call it bundle, but ultimately we went from having an inferior broadband product to a superior broadband product, and now it's time to monetize that network.
Yeah, and I think, maybe 2, 2, couple of years ago, when Mirco was here and, you know, at the conference, he kind of said, you know, you had reached that 60%-
Mm-hmm
... critical mass, and I think that was kind of a turning point for the business, because now, again, you have the superior product bundle offering across the vast majority of your footprint, so now you can really begin to lean in. And so that's kind of where we are.
And increased volumes, I mean, it's pretty simple math. The increased volumes in a world where you have 70% kind of fiber footprint, 30%, so you win in the 70%, you lose in the 30%, increased volumes actually helps you to the year to the positive, especially with the pull through. In a world, you go back 5 years, where the equation was inverted, we had to be a lot more delicate in terms of our marketing and brand positioning and just overall activity in the market. So I think that's kind of dramatically changed what we can do in market, and honestly, it's why you see us driving market share.
So against that backdrop of, you know, long runway of market share growth, you talked about, you know, the 8.3 million passings or locations target, by 2025, but that's down from 9, right?
Mm-hmm.
Was where you had originally kind of intended, because perhaps some regulatory decisions. But does it make sense to go beyond that 8.3 million over time, just given all the goodness that we're talking about, but is it maybe, again, partly predicated on, you know, or dictated rather, by policy?
Oh, look, I would, I would say fiber, fiber is going to make sense, but we can't be blind to the environment in which we're operating, right? So if interest rates, you know, bump up, well, that makes... You know, if there was a fiber build that was kind of borderline economic, well, then that becomes uneconomic because your investment case is a little different. If regulatory policies change, well, that has an impact on the business case.
Right.
So I think there's plenty more fiber locations to build out that will be very good uses of capital. I think the nuance is, do you turn the dial up a little bit, down a little bit, and how many new homes are you building out a year? Again, the fact that we accelerated through COVID, and we're getting to 8.3, you know, 80-odd%, it affords us a lot more flexibility in and around timing and pace of that build, as opposed to, "Look, these are kind of urban areas, need to get it done" table stakes.
Right.
So I think it affords us a little bit more strategic flexibility, but it's still gonna be a good investment.
Okay, that makes sense. And so as we're thinking about a lot of what we discussed, but, you know, given competitive pressures in wireless and wireline, how do we get comfortable, how does the team get comfortable in terms of just your overall revenue guidance for 2024? I mean, what are, what are some of the levers we should be thinking about in terms of getting there?
Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, we're comfortable with our guidance overall, and ultimately, as you say, a competitive marketplace, but it's been a competitive marketplace for years, if not decades. And the headline price will always make the news, and politicians will do their politician thing and, you know, try to get votes and try to get some notoriety.
Yep.
But ultimately, when you look at it, you know, the vast majority of our subs are not on the lowest priced plans, and overall, ARPU basically flat. So. And that's in a world where bundled subs have been increased, I guess, what? Gross adds are bundled, kind of doubled year-over-year. So that should be an ARPU pressure, and you pick up the win in churn later on. But ultimately, with all of those kind of headwinds, ARPU's flat, service revenue up.
Okay. So I think we also talked about on the call here, right, with, you know, strong 1Q 2024 EBITDA growth, but there's still probably benefits from workforce reductions and restructuring that should build over 2024. Can you help us maybe think about the timing and cadence of the maybe benefits from the 2023 program, how we should be thinking of perhaps about then the timing and cadence of, you know, the 2024 program, and, you know, what that all means to consolidated EBITDA growth of the year?
Yeah, and that's a good question. Ultimately, the 150-200 range is something we're still comfortable with. Obviously, you ramp into it. Q1 didn't see much of a benefit at all. I mean, given the timing of the exits, the program is not quite done yet, so, you know, the second half of the year is gonna be much more important for us as we grow into that.
Okay, that's a good way to think about it. BCE shares are currently yielding... I don't have the current dividend yield, but-
Way too high a number is-
Yeah, pick a number. So it reflect, you know, reflecting obviously some concerns around the payout ratio-
Mm-hmm.
And, you know, leverage profile. So in one Q, you raised BCE's internal leverage target from, you know, to 3, from 2 to 2.5, which you noted was perhaps a stale policy. So, frame how you're thinking about your overall payout ratio leverage, you know, long-term capital return and dividend payouts?
Okay, so hold on. You might have to come back with that one.
You want me to write it down?
Yeah, exactly. That covers a bunch. In terms of the leverage policy, you know, 3x, I think, is just the appropriate long-term policy here. That's, that's well inside. It's a quarter turn inside S&P's BBB+. The old policy from 7 years ago, it was a bit of a different world in terms of our scale wasn't the same, capital leases weren't included, and S&P hadn't moved up their policy. So ultimately... And sorry, I forgot. I mean, I should mention this. That was also at a time when we had a pension deficit. We're now running a CAD 3.5+ billion surplus, which gets adjusted into rating agencies' calculation, but that's, it's a pretty big difference. So, you know, ultimately, as I said, 2.5x really was a stale number.
I think 3 is still a very solid BBB+ credit policy, and ultimately where we should be long term is my view. In terms of how you get there, I mean, ultimately, there is a deleveraging path. I mean, ultimately, I'm saying ultimately 6 times, but ultimately, it's a free cash flow driver, right? I mean, drive free cash flow growth, and everything else is capital allocation, right? Leverage comes down. It's the how we talked about the nuance of pacing of fiber-
Mm-hmm.
and other digital transformation projects. So within our, within our world here, we're still able to drive fiber growth, we're able to drive, customer growth and funding digital transformation, as well as investing in the business. So it's a pretty good, it's a pretty good balance of capital allocation, and as you get forward a few years, obviously, if you slow down some of the subsidy builds, which are a bit more expensive than, than normal, and, and kind of reap the benefits of our, of our digital transformations and, and IT investments. You know, I won't go so far as to say what our competitor says, we're 10% C to I is where we'll land, but it's, it's well below where we are now. It's well below where we are now, and that just drives goodness to free cash flow, leverage, and everything else.
So glad you brought up the pension, 'cause Glen would probably have been calling you had you not brought up that, surplus. So the-
Yeah, the good news about that is I was actually president of the pension fund at the time, so-
Okay, good.
I, I should say it.
So I think I, you know, I'll take another bite at the apple here. I think I asked you this-
Mm-hmm.
on the call, but, yeah, how should we think about the timing of getting back down to maybe that payout ratio, you know, long-term?
Yeah
Payout ratio for the BCE?
No, it's a fair question. We'll see how consistent my answer is. You know, I do think we're doing what we told the markets we're gonna do, right? I mean, we're running our payout ratio over 100% through 2025, as we build out our fiber, as we build out long-term assets. The other point on leverage is, you know, there was a bit of an overhang uncertainty of our 5G spectrum. I mean, we've now bought that spectrum. It's, it's behind us. There's millimeter wave, but that's expected to be a, a relatively smaller track. So in terms of that overhang of, of risk to leverage and free cash flow, that's now behind us. So I think you get through 2025, you can't just stop your fiber build on a dime. You start normalizing your CapEx again.
So you get into 2026, and I've seen... You know, we've kind of said shortly after 2025, looking to get below 100%, and then you get into what is a more normalized long-term world for us in terms of dividend payout ratio, without getting into it's a board decision, et cetera, et cetera.
Okay. I think you touched on, and I want to go back to, I guess, just some of the longer-term cost initiatives that-
Mm-hmm
... you and the team have been focused on. Obviously, Mirco has talked about, you know, this digitization, automation, virtual repairs, but maybe update us also... You know, so taking a step back, you know, how should we think about these cost initiatives? You know, are these 2, 3, 5-year timeframe kind of initiatives, or could we perhaps begin to see the, you know, the fruit of that earlier? And then copper, you know, decommissioning. You know, where are we on that journey? I feel like it's maybe perhaps something we don't, hasn't gotten as much attention, even though it's perhaps obviously something you guys are thinking about.
Yeah. I think copper decom, we might be a little earlier than some of our competitors in that process. So obviously, there's an opportunity there, not just because you can sell off copper, and it's very valuable, but just in terms of reducing the number of COs that you have. So it's selling off real estate, adjusting your footprint and ultimately reducing the cost and simplifying your kind of network backbone while you sell off copper. So that opportunity is there. I find that one's a little bit more of a step function, so it's a little lumpier, right? I mean, you need to get out of the CO by CO by CO.
Whereas the rest of the cost initiatives that, that you rattled off, I think you just see that goodness, and you capture it over time, but fairly consistently, right? So there's a project, it lands, you get a benefit. There's another project that rolls off, rolls off, rolls off. So I do think that just continues, and it all flows through from the fiber build, combined with our IT systems and our go-to-market, and, and frankly, customer behavior, right? I mean, you go back a handful of years, people... Well, I mean, nobody wanted to sit on hold, but people would wanna actually talk to somebody to solve the problem, and figure it out. You know, in the chatbot world, in the digital self-serve world, customer behavior is gonna have a, a big piece of that.
But our ability to keep up with, and frankly, drive some of that behavior by just making it easy, is gonna continue to drive those trends, right?
Yeah.
So self-install, Digital Hugs, just transacting, connecting with us online. In a fiber world, where you don't have gear, especially in Canada, you don't have gear in the field where you have to go repair it. You don't need as many trucks. You don't need as many technicians, boots, helmets on the ground. Like, we become a much more software developer-type company, right? 'Cause it's all software layers on top of the network, as opposed to hard hats, pickaxes, and shovels. So there's some kind of old school legacy cost savings, plus the new world, digital, self-serve type savings.
Yeah, and obviously, AI plays an opportunity in your customer service. You know, we've heard your peers-
Yeah
in North America talk about that this week as well, and so that's probably a huge opportunity that probably is tied into a lot of this... a lot of the different levers that we've just kinda gone through.
Yeah. I'd say AI is everywhere, and I'm sure the folks in the room know as much as I do about this. But it's gone from buzzwords to how do you actually leverage the technology, and traditional AI or GenAI, right? But it's not just in the call center or customer service. I mean, it's legal, it's HR, it's finance. It's really throughout the organization in terms of how do we actually leverage technology to create a better experience for customers, and at the same time, become more cost efficient. And on the third-party revenue, you would've seen our kind of partnership announcements. You know, the partnerships that we're announcing here, they're kind of ServiceNow, it's Google for our call center.
Those, those are products that we will leverage internally, but they're also products that we're gonna sell externally.
Yeah.
You know, so you know, John Watson, our President of Enterprise, it's inside, outside strategy, but we're a pretty good customer for a lot of this technology, and if it drives savings for us, it's gonna drive savings for other.
So lastly here, just shifting to the end of sports assets. You know, one could argue sports franchise valuations are, you know, I wouldn't necessarily say peak levels, but elevated levels here. But BCE does not seem to be getting any credit for its stake in, you know, the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment group, the Canadiens. What's the end goal for these assets?
Yeah. I'm sitting in Boston, so the good news, the good news for MLSE here is that the value of the team has really skyrocketed, somewhat independent of whether or not they can beat the Bruins in the playoffs. So, you know, we'll take that as a good news story. Actually, it's been an incredible investment, but you're right. I mean, if there's an opportunity to monetize, I think we have to consider that. Ultimately, you know, it's a lot of value that's not driving EBITDA, but it comes with real strategic importance for us. So, you know, in terms of ability to monetize, we have to take a look at it, especially in this rate environment.
Okay. Well, I think that's a great place to end it. Thank you everybody, and thank you, Curtis, for joining us.
Thanks very much for having me. Thank you.