Evidence of meeting #149 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was rogers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
I won't provide you a specific number, but I will tell you that we continually look for efficiencies in different parts of the business, and we look to deploy those resources to other growing areas of the business.
Conservative
Jeremy Patzer Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
Mr. Staffieri, there was a memo that was circulated within the company. This was reported on by The Globe and Mail. It said that there are 1,200 employees who no longer work for Rogers after.... A memo with your name on it went out.
Are there more initiatives like that under way? Have there been more that have happened since those 1,200 people departed your company?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
As I said, there are areas in our business where we invest, and we create opportunities in employment across the nation, particularly with respect to infrastructure investments that we make. On balance, we continue to increase the investments we make year after year. I quoted the number of $4 billion for last year, and we'll continue to increase that. We believe in the nation, and we believe in our business and investing in infrastructure.
Conservative
Jeremy Patzer Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
How many jobs in western Canada have you created since the merger with Shaw? How many jobs have you created? Just give the number, please.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
We've created almost 2,000 jobs—1,800, to be specific. That includes the repatriation of call centre jobs that were offshore. We're the only Canadian telecom company where all our frontline interactions and representatives are here in Canada.
Conservative
Jeremy Patzer Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
You've been trimming off jobs. You've sent memos with your name on them. You've already gotten rid of 1,200 other jobs, and apparently there are more coming with a second round that has your name on it as well. You're telling me, on one hand, that you're creating jobs, yet you've been laying people off and buying people out across the company. What's going on here?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
Sir, I'm not at all clear on what memo you're referring to.
As I said, we're focused on making the right investments in the right areas of our business. We're confident in our growth prospects and the opportunities we create for Canadians and our employees.
Conservative
Jeremy Patzer Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
You're saying that reporting in The Globe and Mail about a memo that went out with your name on it—how areas where the company was underperforming were going to experience some cuts, and that 1,200 employees no longer work for Rogers because of that initiative—is fake news.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
I'm not going to comment on The Globe and Mail's reporting.
What I am telling you is that we continue to look for areas to invest in. Our track record is one of investment and growth in this country.
Conservative
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
Different parts of our organization have gone through and will continue to go through different dynamics. Some are growth areas and some are areas where we can find efficiencies. As I said, if there's a particular role that became duplicative as we came together with Shaw, we always look to find opportunities for talent in other parts of the organization.
Conservative
Jeremy Patzer Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
You're saying those people just experienced it differently, I guess.
Do you think competition in rural broadband is robust in Canada?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
Well, there are a couple of things embedded in your question.
In terms of rural, one thing that is top of mind for all of us is connectivity for all Canadians, and coverage. We're working with different levels of government to increase connectivity where we don't currently have services by deploying fibre and, importantly—through the 5G wireless network we've been deploying successfully—5G home Internet.
Conservative
Jeremy Patzer Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
On that, briefly, I looked online. We have Rogers and Bell with us today, at this meeting. Both of you offer the exact same service for the exact same price.
If there was a healthy competitive ecosystem in Canada, do you not think there would be a difference in both price and product delivery?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
In a competitive environment, you can expect price variation at different times, as I talked about. You can expect competitors to look at what the competition is doing. That's what brings more value for consumers and continues to bring prices down. As was said earlier in this session, this has caused pricing to come down. In the last year alone, wireless prices have come down 10.8%, based on Statistics Canada. On the wireline side, they've come down 9%. They've come down even more in the west as a result of the increased competition Rogers brought to the west.
Conservative
Jeremy Patzer Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK
How many new homes or households have you guys connected to broadband based on the $1-billion fund you supposedly set aside for investment in rural broadband?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
I can get you the latest specific numbers for what has been connected as a result of that $1 billion in the west you're referring to.
However, there's still more to do on that. I think it's more about homes passed than how many are actually connected, because we want to earn the business of every home we pass. I talked about it in terms of 5G home wireless, home Internet and, soon, satellite coverage. We've been leading and investing in satellite technology and bringing that coverage to Canadians.
Liberal
Iqwinder Gaheer Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for their testimony today.
My question is for Rogers, but I'll ask Bell the same one.
How is Rogers responding to customer complaints about fee increases during the commitment periods? I know, Mr. Staffieri, that you talked about a 10-day window, when they can cancel a new contract. Perhaps this is in the fine print they're not reading. You also said that, if they're not happy, you will work with them on an individual basis. Are you offering refunds? Are there alternative plans being offered?
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc.
What we are primarily trying to do is look to what the customer needs. Often, they don't need the actual set-top box, and we move them to the TV app.
Bret, maybe you can talk about some of the options we're giving customers.
President, Residential, Rogers Communications Inc.
You're right. It is all about what customers actually need, and those needs vary across the country. For example, in our premium service, customers with us have unlimited PVR, where some of our competitors cap that at 60 days or the number of hours. We actually provide options for those who need to have those types of experiences, which is a different type of need that some customers have, and we want to make sure we can afford that choice to them.
Liberal
Iqwinder Gaheer Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
Do you give them the option to opt out of the contract, though, if they show dissatisfaction with the contract?
President, Residential, Rogers Communications Inc.
As I believe Tony mentioned earlier, the first set-top box, which is really a gateway to a broader ecosystem of entertainment, is offered and included as part of the Ignite solutions. Then what we allow customers to do...because their needs evolve over time. Those who might want to engage the app that Tony has mentioned are able to do that. Others may choose to have that premium experience. We've continued to enhance those premium experiences. For example, video-on-demand services that are available through the premium services have increased 67% over the last several years. Indeed, average hours per viewer have increased 9%, demonstrating that many customers do choose to have—
Liberal
Iqwinder Gaheer Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
I'm sorry, Mr. Leech and Mr. Staffieri, but I'm going to have to ask you that question again.
Do you give them the option...? Let's say I'm on a phone call and I've been on hold for a while, and you give me the different options that I can choose from. If I'm still not satisfied.... Is the customer, at the end of that road, given the option to cancel the contract? Can they opt out of the contract, yes or no?
President, Residential, Rogers Communications Inc.
As we've mentioned, I believe that the first set-top box is included, and other set-top boxes, if the customer no longer needs them, can be returned.
