Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good afternoon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
My name is Ken Stein. I am senior vice-president of corporate and regulatory affairs at Shaw. I am joined by Jean Brazeau, senior vice-president of regulatory affairs at Shaw.
As members of the committee know, Shaw is totally committed to innovation, competition, and consumer choice. Shaw serves over 3.4 million customers across Canada. We provide broadband cable television, high-speed Internet, telephony, direct-to-home satellite, and other telecommunications services. Through our acquisition of Shaw Media, we now operate the Global Television Network and 19 specialty services.
All these services are provided, despite what you may have heard, in highly competitive markets where we compete with Zoom, BCE-CTV, Rogers/CITY, Telus, MTS Allstream, and SaskTel. We compete by providing the best possible customer experience. That requires investment. Shaw has spent over $7.3 billion in capital expenditures since 2000, and we continue to make significant network investments.
Let me move to the issues before this committee. We are all aware that Internet use is changing and increasing dramatically. Canada has the highest consumption rate of online video content in the world. Last year, demand on Shaw's network increased by 100%. That's huge. We have never seen anything like this.
Using the Internet for video content and gaming is becoming the mainstream application. In this rapidly evolving marketplace, it is critical that regulators and the industry look carefully at consumers' evolving use of the Internet. In fact, to ensure that we deliver choice, quality, and value, Shaw announced on Monday of this week that we will establish an Internet usage consultation with all our customers.
Attached to our remarks is a chart showing how independent ISPs use our network. I hope it's not too complicated. I can explain it. It also illustrates the shared nature of that network. As third-party Internet access users and our retail customers consume more and more capacity, network congestion slows speeds for all customers on the network. To address this, we must invest in advanced technology, not just expand bandwidth. We have to invest in advanced technology in our head ends, deploy fibre optic facilities deeper into our network, and expand the number of fibre nodes in our service areas. These are costly solutions, which not only require capital but also involve digging up streets, obtaining municipal approvals to lay fibre, and negotiating with telecommunications and hydro companies that control support structures.
At Shaw, our aim is to maximize the Internet experience for all our customers. To do this, we have to adapt and provide service options that best address their changing and diverse usage.
Shaw currently offers several options with a wide range of prices, speeds, and monthly usage allowances. We will ensure that these options are transparent, and that our customers have timely information about how their usage may be changing. If a customer's use changes, we will make sure they have the chance to make cost-effective adjustments.
Jean.