Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, committee members. My name is Phil Hartling and I'm the president of Rogers Wireless. I've previously led the residential business and our service expansion program. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you about the telecommunications industry and the work that Rogers is doing to connect more Canadians, drive innovation and deliver more value for consumers.

Rogers is a proud Canadian company. For more than 60 years, we've created tens of thousands of jobs and served millions of customers to bring Canadians the best products and services they can rely on. In the last decade alone, we've invested over $40 billion in our networks.

We've built Canada's largest and best 5G network. Our coast-to-coast Internet network now passes 9.8 million homes, since we came together with Shaw last year. Our investments drive a capital-intensive business. Our planned capital expenditure in 2024 of $4 billion reflects record levels of investment in our networks.

This investment in our networks is not just to support the rapid growth in data consumption, which is growing rapidly. In wireless, for example, data consumption has gone up over 400% in the last five years. Broadband usage on our wireline networks is up over 200%. Last year alone, we invested $1 billion in our wireless network just to keep up with the amount of consumption increase in 2023.

Beyond keeping up with consumption, we are investing in industry-leading innovations like satellite-to-mobile technology, which will bring coverage to every corner of our country—even the most rural and remote parts. It's about harnessing leading global technology to help first responders with early wildfire detection using AI cameras and satellite-powered sensors. It's about bringing cellular service that never existed before along the Highway of Tears in British Columbia, or through eastern Ontario to improve public safety.

We're making these record investments while delivering more value to Canadians in a very competitive market. In fact, since our merger with Shaw and Quebecor's acquisition of Freedom Mobile, the industry has never been more competitive.

Inflation has driven up the price of most goods, including groceries and energy, but it's a very different picture for wireless and broadband services. From the federal government's own data, wireless prices have gone down 50% in the last five years. Since last year, prices are down 16% and wireless prices are now lower than those in the United States.

Think back to 2020, when a 10-gigabyte plan cost $75 a month. Today, you can purchase 30 gigabytes of data for $39 a month. In other words, the cost of wireless is down, both in absolute terms and in price per gigabyte.

As a company, we know there's more to do. In the last year, we've expanded our connected for success program—our low-cost, high-speed home Internet program for low-income Canadians—to include the western provinces. We've also introduced a connected for success wireless program that offers a $25-dollar 5G plan with a no-cost 5G smart phone. For Canadians, we've cut the cost of our most popular 5G plan by 70%. We dropped prices for the entry price of 5G last year by over 40%, from $85 to $55, and it's now $50 a month. The market followed.

Those are real, substantive reductions for consumers. In any given week, companies are offering special promos and deals as we compete vigorously for market share. Last year alone, there were more than 3,000 price plans in the market that Canadians could avail themselves of, and 4.9 million Canadians switched providers in 2023.

Rogers has also introduced a 48-month device financing option at 0% interest with no mobile contract when it's bundled with a Rogers credit card. This cuts the monthly device payments in half. With the average iPhone these days costing $1,200 to $1,500, that kind of reduction makes a material impact on the cost to consumers.

I'll conclude by saying that Rogers shares the commitment of affordability and ensuring that Canadians have the very best in connectivity, regardless of where they live and no matter their budget or needs.

I look forward to your questions.