Toronto, June 8, 2010 In a major address to the industry stakeholders gathered at the 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit, now being held in Toronto, Robert Dépatie, President and CEO of Videotron, discussed his vision of the future for Videotron and the telecom industry.
Below are excerpts from Mr. Dépatie's speech.
On Videotron's wireless network:
We are engaged in extensive network testing and are on the verge of launching Quebec's most competitive, and its most complete wireless service. Our 3.75 generation network will be fast, able and stable, with technology and entertainment capabilities that will go above and beyond what is presently out there. Our wireless network will soon be at the heart of our strategies and our wireless plan, like all our service and product plans, will be focused on the customer and on how will we deliver value.
We see our wireless network as an excellent means to extend the Videotron experience to mobile users, certainly, but also to fixed users who are beyond the reach of our fixed broadband services.
On creating a technological ecosystem for the consumer:
Our goal is to provide our customers with an ecosystem, an environment that can respond to customer requests and requirements and that can create new services. This concept of the ecosystem is where we are going. It is our vision. It is both a metaphor of our customer commitment and the role we play in offering choice, and a description of the galaxy of partners and services we will offer our customers.
Full choice, full flexibility, full ubiquity. With this, our customers will have three screens, three different formats, which means three different types of challenges for our systems and processes. Our job is to make it work, to put the customer in control and make sure that the choice, the flexibility and the ubiquity are truly there. All of these three equal the Videotron technological ecosystem.
On giving consumers what they want:
Our customers decide what they need, what they want, when they want it and how they want it. Our role as service provider is to be flexible and responsive. Our role is to listen, and then respond. That is the approach that drives our technologies, that is the approach that drives our business processes, that is the approach that focuses our employees, and that is the approach that drives customer satisfaction. And it is customer satisfaction - through choice - that drives our business.
On future wireless spectrum auctions:
Our Government is also contemplating auctions of other spectrum blocks. Consultations on the rules for these auctions are expected in the coming months. I urge the Canadian Government to help us, and help Canadians, focus on the 700 MHz spectrum. We can give Canadians results, in less time, for less money and regain our place at the forefront of the world.
Check against delivery.
The full text of Mr. Dépatie's address is not available.
Videotron Ltd. (www.videotron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated communications company engaged in cable television, interactive multimedia development, Internet access services, cable telephony and wireless telephone service. Videotron is a leader in new technologies with its digital interactive television system and its broadband network, which supports high-speed cable Internet access, analog and digital cable television, and other services. As of March 31, 2010, Videotron was serving 1,785,500 cable television customers in Québec, including 1,119,900 subscribers to its digital service. Videotron is the Québec leader in high-speed Internet access, with 1,191,600 subscribers to its cable modem service as of March 31, 2010. As of the same date, Videotron had activated 85,300 handsets on its wireless telephone service and was providing cable telephone service to 1,043,000 Québec households and organizations. For the fifth consecutive year, Videotron was named Québec's most respected telecommunications company by Les Affaires magazine, based on a Léger Marketing survey.
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