BCE Inc (BCE) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the BCE Q1 2024 Results Conference Call. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Mr. Thane Fotopoulos. Please go ahead, Mr. Fotopoulos.

早安，女士們，先生們。歡迎參加 BCE 2024 年第一季業績電話會議。現在我想將會議轉交給塔恩·福托普洛斯先生。請繼續，福托普洛斯先生。

Thank you, Matthew, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call. I'm here, as usual, with Mirko Bibic, our President and CEO, BCE; and our CFO, Curtis Millen. You can find all of our Q1 disclosure documents on the Investor Relations page of the bce.ca website, which we posted earlier this morning.

謝謝馬修，大家早安，謝謝您加入我們的電話會議。像往常一樣，我和 BCE 總裁兼執行長 Mirko Bibic 一起來到這裡。以及我們的財務長柯蒂斯‧米倫 (Curtis Millen)。您可以在 bce.ca 網站的投資者關係頁面上找到我們所有第一季的揭露文件，該頁面是我們今天早上發布的。

Before we begin, I want to draw your attention to our safe harbor statement on Slide 2, reminding you that today's slide presentation and remarks made during the call will include forward-looking information, and therefore, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Results could differ materially. We disclaim any obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Please refer to BCE's publicly filed documents for more details on our assumptions and risks.

在我們開始之前，我想提請您注意幻燈片 2 上的安全港聲明，提醒您今天的幻燈片演示和電話會議期間的言論將包括前瞻性信息，因此存在風險和不確定性。結果可能存在重大差異。除法律要求外，我們不承擔任何更新前瞻性聲明的義務。請參閱 BCE 公開提交的文件，以了解有關我們的假設和風險的更多詳細資訊。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Mirko.

這樣，我會將電話轉給 Mirko。

Thank you, Thane, and good morning, everyone. So back by the Bell team's consistent execution leading networks and products and cost discipline, we effectively navigated a dynamic competitive environment and the sluggish economy to achieve operational results in line with our internal plan for the quarter. And as expected and as we profiled in our quarterly budget at the start of the year, revenue was down slightly year-over-year, this was the result of a favorable onetime revenue adjustment at Bell Media in Q1 of 2023 that did not repeat this year and some marginal revenue loss at The Source as certain stores began their transition to Best Buy Express, which we've discussed in the past. Normalizing for these 2 items, revenue was basically flat this quarter.

謝謝你，塔恩，大家早安。因此，在貝爾團隊始終如一的執行力、領先的網路和產品以及成本紀律的支持下，我們有效地應對了動態競爭環境和低迷的經濟，實現了符合我們本季度內部計劃的營運業績。正如預期的那樣，正如我們在年初的季度預算中所描述的那樣，收入同比略有下降，這是貝爾媒體在2023 年第一季進行了有利的一次性收入調整的結果，該調整併未重複這一情況由於某些商店開始向百思買快遞過渡，The Source 的收入出現了一些邊際損失，我們過去已經討論過這一點。如果這兩項正常化，本季營收基本持平。

Notably, adjusted EBITDA margin for Q1 were higher than forecasted. BCE's margin expanded 0.8 percentage points to 42.7%, which demonstrates the team's focus on driving operational efficiencies across the organization, realigning costs to address near-term competitive and economic pressures, and effectively balancing growth with profitability in a highly competitive marketplace.

值得注意的是，第一季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率高於預期。 BCE 的利潤率成長了0.8 個百分點，達到42.7%，這表明該團隊致力於提高整個組織的營運效率、重新調整成本以應對近期競爭和經濟壓力，以及在競爭激烈的市場中有效平衡成長與盈利能力。

So in terms of operating results, fiber continues to be on a roll. We're gaining share in all our markets because we have a superior product with a symmetrical speed advantage over cable and that drove our best Q1 retail Internet net additions in 17 years and it contributed to a 22% year-over-year increase in households subscribing to mobility and Internet service bundles where we have fiber.

因此，就經營業績而言，纖維持續保持良好狀態。我們在所有市場上的份額都在增加，因為我們擁有卓越的產品，相對於有線電視具有對稱的速度優勢，這推動了我們17 年來最好的第一季零售互聯網淨增量，並推動家庭數量年成長22%在有光纖的地方訂閱行動和網路服務捆綁。

On wireless, we did a great job striking the right balance between volume growth and economics in what was a very competitive Q1. This is evidenced by strong growth in total gross mobile phone activations, which increased 25% over last year, together with healthy consumer service revenue growth of 4%, reflecting our focus on premium brand customer loadings and careful price plan management.

在無線領域，我們在競爭非常激烈的第一季在銷售成長和經濟效益之間取得了出色的平衡。手機總激活量的強勁增長（比去年增長 25%）以及 4% 的健康消費者服務收入增長證明了這一點，反映出我們對優質品牌客戶負載和謹慎的價格計劃管理的關注。

Of note, our industry is delivering the highest quality services at decreasing prices despite persistent inflation. The latest stats can data shows at the price of all goods and services in aggregate across the Canadian economy has increased 2.9% over the past year while the cost of cellular and Internet access services have declined 26.2% and 15.5%, respectively.

值得注意的是，儘管通貨膨脹持續存在，我們的行業仍以不斷下降的價格提供最優質的服務。最新統計數據顯示，過去一年加拿大經濟中所有商品和服務的價格總計上漲了 2.9%，而蜂窩和網路存取服務的成本分別下降了 26.2% 和 15.5%。

And this downward trend was also corroborated by this week's federal government annual price study. And we're continuing to bring more affordable wireless options to Canadians. Bell recently entered into a retail partnership with Loblaw to launch no name mobile in No Frills grocery stores across the country, which is being powered by PC Mobile and will run on Bell's network.

而這一下降趨勢也得到了本週聯邦政府年度價格研究的證實。我們將繼續為加拿大人提供更實惠的無線選擇。貝爾最近與 Loblaw 建立了零售合作夥伴關係，在全國各地的 No Frills 雜貨店推出無名手機，該手機由 PC Mobile 提供支持，並將在貝爾的網路上運行。

In Business Enterprise, we're continuing to invest in new IT products and services to significantly advance our capabilities and the growth factors I've been talking about recently, namely cloudification, security and managed automation and the growth strategy has accelerated with our acquisition of FX Innovation last year and partnerships with ServiceNow, Google, Microsoft, AWS and Palo Alto Networks. You can see it in our results. In fact, when excluding the favorable acquisition impact of FX Innovation, our Business Solutions and Services revenue grew 12% organically this quarter.

在商業企業方面，我們將繼續投資新的 IT 產品和服務，以顯著提高我們的能力和我最近談到的增長因素，即雲端化、安全性和託管自動化，並且隨著我們收購FX Innovation 去年與ServiceNow、Google、微軟、AWS 和Palo Alto Networks 建立了合作夥伴關係。您可以在我們的結果中看到它。事實上，如果排除 FX Innovation 的有利收購影響，我們的業務解決方案和服務收入本季有機成長了 12%。

Building on this, we recently announced new partnerships with Microsoft to bring Bell's voice network to Microsoft Teams and with SentinelOne, a global leader in AI-powered security to provide advanced data protection services for Canadian businesses. And just a couple of weeks ago, we announced the launch of Google Cloud Contact Center AI which is a cutting-edge suite of AI solutions for contact center transformations that enables intelligent customer and agent experience leveraging Generative AI-infused technology. These are just the latest building blocks and strengthening Bell's position as a tech services leader for enterprise customers in Canada.

在此基礎上，我們最近宣布與Microsoft 建立新的合作夥伴關係，將貝爾的語音網路引入Microsoft Teams，並與AI 驅動的安全領域的全球領導者SentinelOne 建立新的合作夥伴關係，為加拿大企業提供先進的資料保護服務。就在幾週前，我們宣布推出 Google Cloud Contact Center AI，這是一套用於聯絡中心轉型的尖端 AI 解決方案，可利用生成式 AI 注入技術實現智慧客戶和座席體驗。這些只是最新的建置模組，鞏固了貝爾作為加拿大企業客戶技術服務領導者的地位。

I'll turn now to media. We have weathered near-term pressures relatively better than peers, as you can see by positive year-over-year advertising revenue growth for Bell Media this quarter. And underpinning this result are Bell Media's leading assets and our focus on live sports content. And more importantly, we're the only Canadian media company that's pivoting to digital at scale, which is reflected in the impressive 72% increase in digital ad revenue in Q1.

我現在轉向媒體。與同行相比，我們相對更好地經受住了近期的壓力，正如您可以從貝爾媒體本季的廣告收入同比積極增長中看到的那樣。支撐這一業績的是貝爾媒體的領先資產以及我們對體育直播內容的關注。更重要的是，我們是唯一一家大規模轉向數位化的加拿大媒體公司，第一季數位廣告收入令人印象深刻的 72% 成長就反映了這一點。

The strong performance was fueled by Bell Media's programmatic advertising marketplace. We're growing customer usage of our expanded SAM TV sales tool led to a doubling of revenue this quarter as well as by ad-supported subscription tiers on Crave. And our addressable TV functionality and investments to sustain the strategic shift to digital are continuing with an expanded distribution footprint for Crave on Amazon Prime Video where initial sales have been very strong and the recent launch of 10 FAST channels spanning news, sports and entertainment.

貝爾媒體的程序化廣告市場推動了強勁的業績。我們不斷增加客戶對擴展後的 SAM 電視銷售工具的使用，導致本季的收入翻了一番，同時 Crave 上廣告支援的訂閱層收入也翻了一番。我們為維持向數位化策略轉型而進行的可尋址電視功能和投資正在繼續擴大Crave 在Amazon Prime Video 上的發行範圍，最初的銷售非常強勁，並且最近推出了涵蓋新聞、體育和娛樂的10 個FAST頻道。

I'm now going to turn to Slide 5 of our presentation. We added 45,247 new net postpaid mobile phone subscribers. That's up 4.5% from last year, and that represents our best Q1 performance in 6 years. It's a strong result considering the competitive environment where we balance market share with economics, demonstrating our network quality and distribution and brand strength rather than promotional discounting to drive the subscriber acquisition. And this disciplined approach can be seen in our ARPU results as well, which remains stable year-over-year. It's a good outcome, especially in light of the more aggressive pricing we saw in the market during the quarter.

我現在要轉向我們簡報的第 5 張投影片。我們新增 45,247 位後付費手機淨用戶。比去年增長 4.5%，這是我們 6 年來最好的第一季業績。考慮到我們平衡市場佔有率與經濟的競爭環境，這是一個強勁的結果，展示了我們的網路品質、分銷和品牌實力，而不是透過促銷折扣來推動用戶獲取。這種嚴格的方法也可以在我們的 ARPU 結果中看到，該結果逐年保持穩定。這是一個很好的結果，特別是考慮到本季我們在市場上看到的更激進的定價。

Further expansion of our 5G customer base is also helping us to support ARPU at the end of Q1, 56% of all postpaid customers were on 5G capable devices, and that's up from 44% last year.

我們 5G 客戶群的進一步擴大也有助於我們在第一季末支援 ARPU，所有後付費客戶中有 56% 使用支援 5G 的設備，這一比例高於去年的 44%。

Now over to Wireline. It was another strong RGU quarter. We delivered our highest Q1 retail Internet net adds since 2007, up 13.9% versus last year to 31,078. In particular, we saw very strong market share growth in Québec. Moreover, where we have fiber, our bundle sales continue to grow, and they exceed our internal budget targets.

現在轉到有線。這是 RGU 另一個強勁的季度。我們實現了自 2007 年以來最高的第一季零售互聯網淨增量，比去年增長 13.9%，達到 31,078。特別是，我們在魁北克看到了非常強勁的市場份額成長。此外，在我們有光纖的地方，我們的捆綁銷售持續成長，並且超出了我們的內部預算目標。

In Q1 alone, new customers subscribing to mobility and Internet service bundles increased 39% year-over-year. It was also another very good quarter for Bell IPTV, which added 14,174 net new subscribers. That's up 30% from last year. This strong performance reflects the pull-through benefit of fiber Internet, our TV product leadership and our strategy of making content available where the consumer demands it, as evidenced by our 5 app streaming service, which delivered its highest number of Q1 activations since launch. In rounding out our Wireline subscriber results, home phone net losses improved 6.3%, reflecting fewer customer deactivations as that customer base gets smaller over time. And also note that starting this quarter, we are no longer reporting satellite TV subscribers as that business is not financially material in the overall context of BCE.

光是第一季度，訂閱行動和網路服務套餐的新客戶就比去年同期成長了 39%。對於貝爾 IPTV 來說，這也是另一個非常好的季度，淨新增用戶數為 14,174 名。比去年增加了 30%。這一強勁表現反映了光纖互聯網的拉動優勢、我們電視產品的領先地位以及我們在消費者需要時提供內容的策略，我們的5 個應用串流媒體服務就證明了這一點，該服務提供了自推出以來第一季的最高啟動次數。在我們的有線用戶結果中，家庭電話淨損失改善了 6.3%，這反映出隨著客戶群隨著時間的推移而減少，客戶停用的情況也減少了。另請注意，從本季度開始，我們不再報告衛星電視訂戶數量，因為該業務在 BCE 的整體背景下並不具有財務重要性。

Lastly, turning to Bell Media. As I've already mentioned, total advertising revenue was up year-over-year on the strength of digital, marking our first quarter of growth since Q4 2022. And although Q1 was better than we anticipated, the ad market improvement is expected to be uneven. Digital revenues increased 33%, now comprise 41% of media revenues compared to 29% last year. And underpinning the strong result was strong growth in usage of our programmatic ad marketplace as well as continued expansion of our Crave direct-to-consumer streaming subscriber base.

最後，轉向貝爾媒體。正如我已經提到的，在數位化的推動下，廣告總收入同比增長，這是我們自2022 年第四季以來的第一個季度增長。的改善將是不均勻的。數位收入成長了 33%，目前佔媒體收入的 41%，而去年為 29%。支撐這一強勁業績的是我們的程序化廣告市場使用量的強勁增長以及我們的 Crave 直接面向消費者的串流媒體用戶群的持續擴大。

TSN and RDS maintained their #1 rankings in Q1, thanks in part to this year's Super Bowl, which had record ad sales and viewership underscoring the value of premium content to advertisers. CTV also remained Canada's top network in winter, while on the French language side, Bell Media led all competitors in the entertainment and pay specialty market, and Noovo continued to grow market share with full day audiences increasing 4% over Q1 of last year.

TSN 和RDS 在第一季度保持了第一名的排名，這在一定程度上要歸功於今年的超級碗比賽，該賽事創下了創紀錄的廣告銷量和收視率，凸顯了優質內容對廣告商的價值。 CTV 仍然是加拿大冬季的頂級網絡，而在法語方面，Bell Media 在娛樂和付費專業市場上領先所有競爭對手，Noovo 的市場份額繼續增長，全天觀眾比去年第一季度增加了 4%。

In summary, our performance this quarter reflects a focused company in the midst of transition with financial results for Q1 that were on plan. We remain laser-focused on day-to-day execution to serve our customers, to grow subscribers profitably and to prudently manage costs as we said we would at the beginning of the year.

總之，我們本季的業績反映了一家處於轉型過程中的重點公司，第一季的財務表現符合計畫。我們仍然專注於日常執行，以服務我們的客戶、增加訂戶盈利並謹慎管理成本，正如我們在年初所說的那樣。

And with that, I'm going to turn the call over to Curtis who will provide more details on our financial results.

接下來，我將把電話轉給柯蒂斯，他將提供有關我們財務業績的更多詳細資訊。

Thank you, Mirko, and good morning, everyone. I'll begin on Slide 7 with BCE's consolidated financial results. Adjusted EBITDA was up 1.1%, which drove an 80-point (inaudible) 2% reduction in operating costs. Total revenue was down 0.7%, if you adjust for the onetime retro benefit of Bell Media last year and the loss of revenue from source this year, revenue was flat. We've actioned a number of cost and efficiency initiatives, including a sizable workforce restructuring that remains on track to generate in-year savings of $150 million to $200 million. Of this total, only a small amount was realized in Q1. As these OpEx benefits ramp up progressively and are fully realized, we anticipate stronger EBITDA growth in the back half of 2024.

謝謝米爾科，大家早安。我將從投影片 7 開始介紹 BCE 的綜合財務表現。調整後 EBITDA 成長 1.1%，營運成本降低 80 個百分點（聽不清楚）2%。總收入下降了0.7%，如果考慮到去年貝爾媒體的一次性復古效益和今年的收入來源損失，收入持平。我們採取了一系列成本和效率舉措，包括大規模的勞動力重組，該舉措仍有望在年內節省 1.5 億至 2 億美元。其中，第一季僅實現了一小部分。隨著這些營運支出收益逐步增加並充分實現，我們預計 2024 年下半年 EBITDA 將會出現更強勁的成長。

Despite higher EBITDA, net earnings declined in Q1, reflecting a large severance charge related to the workforce restructuring as well as a noncash mark-to-market equity derivative loss due to the decrease in BCE share price this quarter. Consistent with our guidance assumptions for the year, adjusted EPS was down versus last year. This was the result of higher financing cost, increased depreciation and amortization expense, the higher capital asset base and over $50 million in gains from sale of land in Q1 of 2023 related to our real estate optimization strategy.

儘管 EBITDA 較高，但第一季淨利潤下降，反映出與勞動力重組相關的巨額遣散費以及本季度 BCE 股價下跌導致的按市值計價的非現金股票衍生品損失。與我們今年的指導假設一致，調整後每股盈餘較去年下降。這是由於融資成本較高、折舊和攤銷費用增加、資本資產基礎較高以及與我們的房地產優化策略相關的 2023 年第一季土地出售收益超過 5000 萬美元的結果。

In line with our plan to reduce capital investments by $500 million in 2024, CapEx was down $84 million this quarter. The year-over-year quarterly step-down in spending will be more pronounced for the rest of the year as we advance spending in Q1 given favorable construction conditions this winter.

根據我們在 2024 年減少資本投資 5 億美元的計劃，本季資本支出減少了 8,400 萬美元。鑑於今年冬季有利的建築條件，我們將在第一季推進支出，因此今年剩餘時間支出的年減將更加明顯。

Our Q1 free cash flow was flat compared to last year reflecting higher EBITDA, lower CapEx and a related positive change in working capital attributable due to lower supplier payments. These factors were offset by the timing of cash tax installments and severance paid to employees who departed the company in Q1.

與去年相比，我們第一季的自由現金流持平，反映出 EBITDA 更高、資本支出更低，以及由於供應商付款減少而帶來的營運資本的相關積極變化。這些因素被現金稅分期付款時間和向第一季離開公司的員工支付的遣散費所抵消。

Turning to the Bell's CTS on Slide 8. Service revenue was fueled by some of the highest Q1 mobile phone and retail Internet net subscriber loadings in years, which drove both wireless and residential Internet revenue growth of 3%. We also saw continued business solution strength supported by our acquisition of FX Innovation. When excluding the favorable impact of that acquisition, Business Solutions revenue still grew a strong 12% organically. Great result that speaks to our market momentum in the key growth areas of cloud-based computing, managed automation and security solutions. However, overall revenue performance in the quarter was moderated by aggressive wireless rate plan pricing and higher residential service bundle discounts, reflecting a more intensive competitive market environment compared to last year.

轉向幻燈片 8 上的貝爾 CTS。我們也看到了收購 FX Innovation 所支援的持續業務解決方案實力。當排除此次收購的有利影響時，業務解決方案收入仍強勁成長 12%。出色的業績證明了我們在雲端運算、託管自動化和安全解決方案等關鍵成長領域的市場動力。然而，本季的整體營收表現受到激進的無線資費計畫定價和更高的住宅服務捆綁折扣的影響，反映出與去年相比競爭更加激烈的市場環境。

Wireline product revenue was down notably this quarter decreasing 35% as sales volumes normalize following an exceptional year in '23 due to the global supply chain recovery. CTS EBITDA grew 1.7%, yielding a 45.5% margin. That's an increase of 70 points over last year and a direct result of our focus on cost management and disciplined customer growth.

由於全球供應鏈的復甦，繼 23 年的特殊年份之後，銷量恢復正常，本季有線產品收入顯著下降 35%。 CTS EBITDA 成長 1.7%，利潤率為 45.5%。這比去年增加了 70 個百分點，這是我們專注於成本管理和嚴格的客戶成長的直接結果。

Over to Bell Media on Slide 9. Total advertising revenue was up 1.6%. This performance was better than our peers can be attributed in large part to Bell Media's diversified asset mix which comprises Out of Home and Radio properties that return to growth this quarter. Premium programs such as live sports content and strong execution of our digital-first media strategy. Notwithstanding the advertising improvement, total media revenue was down 7.1% and EBITDA decreased 11.4%, due mainly to the onetime retroactive subscriber fee adjustment in Q1 of '23.

請轉到幻燈片 9 上的貝爾媒體。這一業績優於我們的同行，很大程度上歸功於貝爾媒體的多元化資產組合，其中包括本季恢復成長的戶外和廣播資產。優質節目，例如體育直播內容和我們數位優先媒體策略的強大執行。儘管廣告有所改善，但媒體總收入下降了 7.1%，EBITDA 下降了 11.4%，這主要是由於 23 年第一季的一次性追溯訂戶費用調整。

Excluding this onetime item, Q1 EBITDA was up 15% over last year. Notably, OpEx was down 6.2% in Q1, mainly on restructuring cost savings and lower TV programming costs. However, content costs are expected to increase in future quarters with the normalization of content deliveries from the major U.S. studios now that the Hollywood strikes have been settled.

排除這項一次性項目，第一季 EBITDA 比去年同期成長 15%。值得注意的是，第一季營運支出下降了 6.2%，主要是由於重組成本節省和電視節目成本降低。然而，隨著好萊塢罷工事件的解決，美國主要電影公司的內容交付將正常化，預計未來幾季的內容成本將會增加。

Turning to Slide 10. Our balance sheet is healthy with a $4.7 billion of available liquidity and pension plan solvency surpluses totaling close to $3.9 billion at the end of Q1. Our debt maturity schedule also remains well structured with an average of debt maturities of approximately 13.2 years and an after-tax cost of debt that remains below current interest rates at around 3.2%. In February, we took advantage of strong market conditions to tap the U.S. public democrats raising the Canadian equivalent of approximately $1.9 billion which effectively completed our refinancing requirements for 2024 insurers. Our leverage ratio remains manageable at 3.6x adjusted EBITDA.

轉向投影片 10。我們的債務到期時間表也保持良好的結構，平均債務到期日約為 13.2 年，稅後債務成本仍低於當前利率（約 3.2%）。 2 月份，我們利用強勁的市場條件向美國公共民主黨籌集了約 19 億美元的加拿大資金，有效完成了我們對 2024 年保險公司的再融資要求。我們的槓桿率仍處於可控範圍內，調整後 EBITDA 為 3.6 倍。

We updated our internal target leverage policy to 3x adjusted EBITDA. We believe this new target objective is reflective of our operational size and strength and optimize cost of capital and is aligned with the expectations were stable. While currently in excess of this level, it is consistent with a strong balance sheet, ample financial flexibility and investment-grade credit ratings.

我們將內部目標槓桿政策更新為調整後 EBITDA 的 3 倍。我們相信這個新的目標反映了我們的營運規模和實力，優化了資本成本，並且與穩定的預期保持一致。雖然目前已超過這一水平，但與強勁的資產負債表、充足的財務靈活性和投資級信用評級相一致。

To wrap up on Slide 11. We remain confident in our proven ability to deliver under any circumstances, backed by the best networks and products, our digital transformation journey with consistent operational execution and cost discipline. With Q1 consolidated financial results that met our internal plan and reconfirming all of our financial guidance targets for 2024.

最後總結一下投影片11。旅。第一季的綜合財務表現符合我們的內部計劃，並再次確認了我們 2024 年的所有財務指導目標。

I will now turn the call back over to Thane and the operator to begin the Q&A portion.

我現在將把電話轉回塔恩和接線員以開始問答部分。

Thanks, Curtis. So before we start, I want to remind everyone that due to time constraints this morning because of our Annual General Meeting that's taking place right after this call to please limit yourselves to one question and brief follow-up, so that we can get to as many queries as possible. With that, Matthew, we're ready to take our first question.

謝謝，柯蒂斯。因此，在我們開始之前，我想提醒大家，由於今天早上的時間有限，因為我們的年度股東大會將在本次電話會議之後召開，請僅限於一個問題和簡短的後續行動，以便我們能夠了解盡可能多的查詢。馬修，我們準備好回答第一個問題了。

The first question is from Tim Casey from BMO Capital Markets.

第一個問題來自 BMO 資本市場的 Tim Casey。

Mirko, could you talk a little bit about margins as they flow through the quarter because it looked like you had some pretty good cost control. But in light of your comments that the benefits of the restructuring, not really in the numbers yet. How should we think about that kind of cadence through the rest of the year?

Mirko，您能否談談本季的利潤率，因為看起來您有一些相當好的成本控制。但根據您的評論，重組的好處還沒有真正體現在數字上。我們該如何看待今年剩餘時間的這種節奏？

Thank you, Tim, for the question, and good morning. I'm going to pass it over to Curtis to answer for you.

謝謝蒂姆提出的問題，早安。我將把它交給柯蒂斯來為你解答。

As you said, it's two-faced, so I do think the team did a pretty good job of driving margin expansion in Q1, as you mentioned, in this competitive pricing environment. And you're correct. So the workforce restructuring is underway. It's not complete, but we haven't seen much of a benefit yet in Q1. So the estimate on our side is that as we continue to kind of finish that project, we'll continue to ramp up some cost savings over time.

正如您所說，這是兩面性的，所以我確實認為團隊在推動第一季度利潤率擴張方面做得相當好，正如您所提到的，在這個競爭激烈的定價環境中。你是對的。因此，勞動力重組正在進行中。它尚未完成，但我們在第一季尚未看到太多好處。因此，我們方面的估計是，隨著我們繼續完成該項目，隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續節省一些成本。

And I'd add that there's a bit of a separate issue but related to managing the business carefully and with a particular focus on margins. We talked last -- on the last call about some of the transformation initiatives that have been underway for a couple of years, and that will not stop that are intended to drive results right now, but keep improving as we go on and it's largely about digitizing and automating and we were going to continue to accelerate that transformation, whether or not it's moving all core consumer products to a single ordering and billing architecture, improving the customer experience through digital platforms, things like virtual repair and customer self-install using Generative AI as best we can to offer better offer and rate plan personalization, all these things. We're going to continue to do (inaudible) to have a very, very sharp focus on margins.

我想補充一點，這是一個單獨的問題，但與仔細管理業務並特別關注利潤有關。我們在最後一次電話會議上談到了一些已經進行了幾年的轉型舉措，這不會停止旨在推動目前成果的舉措，而是在我們繼續前進的過程中不斷改進，這主要是關於數位化和自動化，我們將繼續加速這一轉型，無論是否將所有核心消費產品轉移到單一訂購和計費架構，透過數位平台改善客戶體驗，例如虛擬維修和使用生成式客戶自行安裝人工智慧盡我們所能提供更好的報價和個性化費率計劃，所有這些。我們將繼續（聽不清楚）非常非常關注利潤率。

The next question is from Maher Yaghi from Scotiabank.

下一個問題來自豐業銀行的 Maher Yaghi。

Mirko, I wanted to ask you a general view on wireless in Canada. We've seen churn ramp up really significantly over the last couple of quarters. More and more customers are BYOD and are taking advantage of the very strong offers you guys are making in the marketplace. Longer term, what's your view if churn remains elevated like this? How that will impact your overall wireless margins and the cost to operate in that business? And more specifically, can you discuss what's causing that earning elevation? Is it specific to any provinces and how you're doing in Québec in wireless?

Mirko，我想問您對加拿大無線技術的整體看法。在過去的幾個季度中，我們看到客戶流失率確實顯著上升。越來越多的客戶使用 BYOD，並利用你們在市場上提供的非常強大的優惠。從長遠來看，如果客戶流失率仍然如此高，您有何看法？這將如何影響您的整體無線利潤和該業務的營運成本？更具體地說，您能討論一下是什麼導致了收入的提高嗎？是否針對任何省份？

Okay. Thank you for the question. At (inaudible) actually a really good question, and it's -- the churn issue is -- I mean, I said this last quarter as well, I believe that it's concerning for sure. And because of that, it remains an area of focus. But before I dive into kind of giving you specific answers to the elements of your question, just take a step back, right, on how we are operating in this highly competitive wireless marketplace. We delivered our best postpaid results for Q1 in 6 years in a lower-price environment, where continue to drive consumer wireless service revenue growth at 4%, better product margins.

好的。感謝你的提問。 （聽不清楚）其實是一個非常好的問題，而且流失問題是——我的意思是，我在上個季度也說過，我相信這肯定令人擔憂。正因為如此，它仍然是一個焦點領域。但在我深入探討為您的問題提供具體答案之前，先退後一步，對吧，我們如何在這個競爭激烈的無線市場中運作。在較低價格環境下，我們在第一季取得了 6 年來最好的後付費業績，繼續推動消費者無線服務收入成長 4%，產品利潤率更高。

And what that tells you is that as we execute, we're not overspending to deliver the results that investors expect of us. So we're going after the right loadings. The majority of our wireless loadings are on the Bell brand. And at the same time, we've seen very strong flanker growth on Virgin Plus. So we are managing all the levers very well. And we're going after the bundled household, which is something I highlighted in my opening remarks, that's because with a bundled household, we get better churn result and better lifetime value.

這告訴你，在我們執行的過程中，我們並沒有超支來實現投資人對我們期望的結果。所以我們要追求正確的負載。我們的無線負載大部分都是貝爾品牌的。同時，我們看到 Virgin Plus 的側翼成長非常強勁。所以我們很好地管理了所有的槓桿。我們正在追求捆綁家庭，這是我在開場白中強調的，因為透過捆綁家庭，我們可以獲得更好的客戶流失結果和更好的終身價值。

So back to the specific elements of your question now. I think you've identified it. Right now, in the near term and in the near past, you've seen a customer that is feeling the pinch from a struggling economy and is shopping for deals. You have kind of aggressive price activity by certain of our competitors in the marketplace.

現在回到你問題的具體內容。我想你已經認出來了。現在，在近期和不久的過去，您會看到一位客戶感受到了經濟不景氣的壓力，並正在購買優惠商品。我們的某些競爭對手在市場上採取了激進的價格活動。

So that's encouraging consumers to switch from -- amongst those carriers. So those carriers are basically swapping customers, and I'm not sure anyone is particularly winning. So that's why we're saying we're going to take a different approach, which is to focus on the premium loadings and on the household bundles.

因此，這鼓勵消費者從這些業者中轉向。所以這些業者基本上都是在交換客戶，我不確定是否有人特別獲勝。因此，這就是為什麼我們說我們將採取不同的方法，即專注於優質負載和家庭捆綁包。

Over time, you asked me about in the long term, we're going to continue doing what we're doing. So it's the premium product, premium loading strategy. It's the household bundling. It's better personalization, continuing to drive a better customer experience, which has been a core focus of ours for the last 4 or 5 years. And I think it's working. You can see it again in the latest CCTS results.

隨著時間的推移，你問我從長遠來看，我們將繼續做我們正在做的事情。所以這是優質產品、優質加載策略。這是家庭捆綁。這是更好的個人化，持續推動更好的客戶體驗，這一直是我們過去四、五年的核心關注點。我認為它正在發揮作用。你可以在最新的 CCTS 成績中再次看到這一點。

And the last thing I'll say as we have, by far, the best Internet product in the marketplace, customers who are choosing fiber churn at a lower rate, customers who are on gig-plus speeds are churning at a lower rate and customers who are buying gig-plus speeds and mobility from us are turning at a lower rate. So that's how we're going to continue to manage this.

我要說的最後一件事是，到目前為止，我們擁有市場上最好的互聯網產品，選擇光纖的客戶以較低的速度流失，使用千兆加速度的客戶以較低的速度流失，並且客戶那些從我們這裡購買額外速度和移動性的人正在以較低的速度轉向。這就是我們將繼續管理這一問題的方式。

So on the Quebec market, thank you for that. I didn't reference that in my opening statement as well in my opening remarks as well. So we're deploying -- everything that I said, we're certainly executing the same playbook in the province of Quebec and seeing the results. And fiber is on -- fiber in Quebec has been the star of the show for Q1. Our fiber Internet net adds were like very, very strong in the province of Quebec. And there's been -- we've punched through now in terms of creating a general consumer awareness that fiber is better than cable.

所以在魁北克市場，謝謝你們。我在開場白中也沒有提到這一點。所以我們正在部署——我所說的一切，我們肯定會在魁北克省執行相同的劇本並看到結果。光纖已開啟－魁北克的光纖一直是第一季的明星。我們的光纖網路網路增加在魁北克省非常非常強大。我們現在已經在讓廣大消費者認識到光纖比電纜更好方面取得了突破。

And that comes through the promotional work that we've been doing, both in terms of advertising and in terms of pricing. Our distribution has been quite strong. So when you have the better product, very strong distribution, a very focused strategy on winning household and you're communicating that. And again, I'm going to go back to customer experience. Our NPS results in the province of Quebec have improved significantly, and then you're seeing that in our subscriber results. So again, Quebec on fiber Internet, the star of the show this quarter.

這是透過我們一直在做的促銷工作來實現的，無論是在廣告方面還是在定價方面。我們的分銷非常強勁。因此，當你擁有更好的產品、非常強大的分銷、非常專注於贏得家庭的策略時，你就在傳達這一點。我將再次回到客戶體驗。我們在魁北克省的 NPS 結果有了顯著改善，您可以在我們的訂閱者結果中看到這一點。魁北克省再次成為光纖網路領域的明星。

Our next question is from David Barden from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的大衛·巴登。

I guess if I could just start the -- I noticed in the release, you guys have changed your assumption for ARPU growth for 2024 from decelerating growth to a decline. And yet in the first quarter, you were able to hold ARPU flat year-over-year. We noticed that it does seem that pricing activity in the market has relented a little bit. So could you talk about kind of how you expect the pricing environment to maybe evolve over the course of the year that would get you to that kind of assumption of negative ARPU growth? And then if I could just do a quick follow-up, which is -- it's a weird time in the world to be raising leverage targets, Mirko. Could you talk about why now is the right time to stop trying to get to 2% to 2.5% and why 3% is now the goal line?

我想如果我可以開始——我在新聞稿中註意到，你們已經改變了對 2024 年 ARPU 成長的假設，從減速成長變為下降。然而在第一季度，ARPU 值與去年同期持平。我們注意到，市場上的定價活動似乎確實有所緩和。那麼您能否談談您預計定價環境在這一年中可能會如何演變，從而使您做出 ARPU 負成長的假設？然後，如果我能做一個快速的跟進，那就是——現在是世界上提高槓桿目標的奇怪時刻，Mirko。您能否談談為什麼現在是停止嘗試達到 2% 至 2.5% 的最佳時機以及為什麼 3% 是現在的目標線？

On ARPU, it's just a reflection of the fact that we're in the lowest pricing environment basically in the history of wireless in Canada. And so what we're -- that's kind of what you're getting from us in terms of the release with ARPU on the references to ARPU. And we've got a very dynamic pricing environment. It's influxed, it's still too early to make a call fully on the direction of ARPU. I think you have seen some stabilization on pricing in the past couple of weeks as you've mentioned. But we don't know how long that's going to last.

在 ARPU 方面，這只是反映了這樣一個事實：我們基本上處於加拿大無線歷史上最低的定價環境。所以我們就是——這就是您從我們那裡得到的關於 ARPU 的發布以及 ARPU 參考的資訊。我們擁有一個非常動態的定價環境。雖然已經湧入，但現在要完全判斷 ARPU 的走向還為時過早。正如您所提到的，我認為您在過去幾週內已經看到定價穩定。但我們不知道這種情況會持續多久。

So it's a bit related to the question that Maher asked me, which is we're going to continue to focus on the premium subscriber loadings and on the bundling in order to generate kind of good household revenue and improve the lifetime value of the bundled customer, that's how we're going to approach it. So I'd say a little bit of focus on service revenue, given that we're operating in a pricing environment that we can't fully control.

因此，這與馬赫問我的問題有點相關，即我們將繼續專注於優質訂戶負載和捆綁銷售，以產生良好的家庭收入並提高捆綁客戶的終身價值，這就是我們要採取的方法。因此，考慮到我們在無法完全控制的定價環境中運營，我想說稍微關註一下服務收入。

And on leverage, I'll turn it over to Curtis.

至於槓桿作用，我會把它交給柯蒂斯。

Thanks, David for the question. As you noted, we did update our leverage target to 3.0. And as you say, it's an increase but frankly, we're at 3.6x. That, I would say, is a stale-dated policy, 3x leverage we think is appropriate. It does reflect strong investment-grade credit ratings. And the other thing I'll note is at the time we instituted that original policy, we had a significant pension deficit. And we're now looking at a pension surplus that's north of $3 billion. So we think it's appropriate for our size and strength.

謝謝大衛提出問題。正如您所指出的，我們確實將槓桿目標更新為 3.0。正如你所說，這是一個增長，但坦白說，我們是 3.6 倍。我想說，這是一項過時的政策，我們認為 3 倍槓桿是合適的。它確實反映了強大的投資級信用評級。我要指出的另一件事是，在我們制定最初的政策時，我們有嚴重的退休金赤字。我們現在看到退休金盈餘超過 30 億美元。所以我們認為這適合我們的體型和力量。

Our next question is from Aravinda Galappatthige from Canaccord Genuity.

我們的下一個問題來自 Canaccord Genuity 的 Aravinda Galappatthige。

I'll repeat it. So the main question is on Internet revenue growth. You've noted 3%, which seems a bit lower than I think the number that you've been citing in your presentations in the last couple of quarters. Maybe just talk to that element. I know that there were some price adjustments that happened in the beginning of the year. I'm not sure how exactly the timing of that plays out, perhaps it sort of steps up again in Q2, but I wanted to get some thoughts on that. And a quick follow-up, Mirko, on your Business Solutions organic growth number. Can you -- are you able to give us a sense of how much of a base we're talking about so we can assess the significance of it?

我再說一次。所以主要問題是網路收入成長。您已經注意到 3%，這似乎比您在過去幾個季度的演示中引用的數字要低一些。也許只是與那個元素交談。我知道今年年初發生了一些價格調整。我不確定具體的時間安排如何，也許在第二季度會再次出現，但我想對此有一些想法。 Mirko，請快速跟進您的業務解決方案自然成長數字。您能否讓我們了解我們正在談論的基礎有多大，以便我們可以評估它的重要性？

So on -- thank you for that. On the Internet revenue growth, it's -- my answer is going to be along the same lines as a couple of answers I've already given, Aravinda, it's -- that net revenue growth reflects the impact of residential service bundle discounts as we pursue a household bundling strategy. We're also focused and I've been very, very transparent over many quarters about this next point. We are focused where we are underpenetrated in our fiber market share. We're going to be focused on loading the network and make sure that we get the share that we deserve given the superiority of our product.

等等——謝謝你。關於網路收入成長，我的答案將與我已經給出的幾個答案相同，Aravinda，淨收入成長反映了我們追求的住宅服務捆綁折扣的影響家庭捆綁策略。我們也很專注，而且我在許多季度對於下一點一直非常非常透明。我們專注於纖維市場份額滲透不足的領域。我們將專注於加載網絡，並確保我們獲得我們應得的份額，因為我們產品的優越性。

And one of the geographies where we've traditionally been underpenetrated has been in the province of Quebec, and that is changing. So you're seeing the impacts of that strategy, which I've been very clear about for some time. But the bundled discounts that are having a temporary impact on revenue do drive better subscriber lifetime value, which I've also mentioned and it's improved retention long term. So it has a positive churn impact. So that's the story really on the Internet revenue growth. I'm very pleased. I'm pleased with the market share gains we're making. In the one province, I'm pleased with the market share that we've been able to achieve over time in the other geographies and I'm very happy with the success of the bundling strategy, which is something we've highlighted in our materials this morning. And the Business Solutions revenue, it's pretty significant. It would be over $500 million annually.

傳統上我們滲透不足的地區之一是魁北克省，而這種情況正在改變。所以你看到了該策略的影響，我一段時間以來一直非常清楚這一點。但對收入產生暫時影響的捆綁折扣確實會帶來更好的訂戶生命週期價值，這一點我也提到過，並且它可以提高長期保留率。因此它具有正面的流失影響。這就是網路收入成長的真正故事。我很高興。我對我們所取得的市場份額成長感到滿意。在一個省，我對我們隨著時間的推移在其他地區取得的市場份額感到滿意，我對捆綁策略的成功感到非常高興，這是我們在我們的報告中強調的。商業解決方案的收入非常可觀。每年將超過 5 億美元。

Our next question is from Stephanie Price from CIBC Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 CIBC Markets 的 Stephanie Price。

I was hoping you could give us an update on the restructuring in terms of the timing of the cost synergies and how we should think about them rolling out through the year? And upside you see as you continue the restructuring and...

我希望您能向我們介紹重組的最新情況，包括成本協同效應的時間安排，以及我們應該如何考慮今年的重組？當你繼續重組時，你會看到正面的一面…

Yes. Stephanie, thanks for the question. So as mentioned in the prepared remarks, so we've executed a good portion of the workforce restructuring, but not all of it. We haven't captured much of anything in terms of benefits in Q1. So I'd say, it's a little bit lumpy, but grows over time. And given more than half has already taken place, I'd assume -- it's fair to assume that next quarter, we'll start seeing kind of a proportion and upside in that kind of space. And then as the program terminates across the end of the year, it continues to ramp up, if that's helpful for you.

是的。史蒂芬妮，謝謝你的提問。正如準備好的發言中所提到的，我們已經執行了很大一部分勞動力重組，但不是全部。我們在第一季的收益方面沒有獲得太多好處。所以我想說，它有點凹凸不平，但會隨著時間的推移而增長。鑑於一半以上已經發生，我認為 - 可以公平地假設下個季度，我們將開始看到這種空間的比例和上升空間。然後，隨著該計劃在年底終止，它會繼續增加，如果這對您有幫助的話。

That is. And then just on the partnership with Google Cloud that was announced to power their AI contact centers. Just curious how we should think of opportunities around managed services for BCE? And maybe more broadly, how we should think about opportunities within the enterprise business at this point?

那是。然後就是與Google雲端的合作，宣佈為他們的人工智慧聯絡中心提供支援。只是好奇我們應該如何看待 BCE 託管服務的機會？或許更廣泛地說，此時我們該如何考慮企業業務中的機會？

Yes. So we're adopting a strategy in the enterprise marketplace where -- the innovative deployments that were -- well, the innovative solutions that we're deploying internally to improve our business as part of our internal transformation, where we intend to go to market and generate revenue with our customers. So as we undertake our own pretty significant digital transformation, the expertise we're developing as a result of that, we are then going to monetize with our large enterprise customer base. So the Google Cloud Contact Center AI is one perfect example of that. We're deploying that solution and that infrastructure internally at Bell to improve the customer experience, and we're also partnering with Google on a go-to-market basis.

是的。因此，我們正在企業市場中採用一項策略，其中創新部署是我們在內部部署的創新解決方案，以改善我們的業務，作為我們內部轉型的一部分，我們打算進入市場並與我們的客戶一起創造收入。因此，當我們進行自己相當重要的數位轉型時，我們正在開發的專業知識將透過我們的大型企業客戶群獲利。谷歌雲端聯絡中心人工智慧就是一個完美的例子。我們正在貝爾內部部署該解決方案和基礎設施，以改善客戶體驗，我們也與 Google 合作進行市場推廣。

So over time, that's going to -- that's an example of how we're going to continue to organically grow our Business Solutions revenues. And we have other examples and Service Bridge would be -- with ServiceNow is another very good example. The SentinelOne example from my opening remarks will be a third example. But that's now a significant part of the Bell Business markets strategy.

因此，隨著時間的推移，這將是我們將如何繼續有機地成長我們的業務解決方案收入的一個例子。我們還有其他例子，Service Bridge 就是－ServiceNow 是另一個很好的例子。我開場白中的 SentinelOne 範例將是第三個範例。但這現在已成為貝爾商業市場策略的重要組成部分。

Our next question is from Sebastiano Petti from JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的塞巴斯蒂亞諾·佩蒂。

Just one question on Business Wireless for a second, I mean, Mirko, you talked about some of the different levers that are perhaps from a competitive perspective, impacting maybe the consumer side, any update perhaps you can give us on what you're seeing from a business perspective, whether it's some mines being perhaps maybe some competition or maybe some lines being dropped because of workforce rationalization from some of your peers there in Canada?

關於商業無線的一個問題，我的意思是，Mirko，你談到了一些不同的槓桿，這些槓桿可能是從競爭的角度來看的，可能會影響消費者方面，你可以向我們提供你所看到的任何更新從商業角度來看，是否某些礦山可能存在競爭，或者由於加拿大同行的勞動力合理化而導致某些生產線被放棄？

And then separately, on the leverage target, let me add 3.6x today. Any view in terms of the glide path down to that 3.0 over time? And then one last housekeeping question. Mirko, I think you talked about 22% increase in bundled subs on the fiber and wireless where fiber is available. And I think, if I'm not mistaken, Quebec, I think you said 39% increase. Maybe you can update us on where those numbers were perhaps maybe a year ago as we kind of think about the success that you've seen in this converged bundle strategy over the last 12 months or so?

然後，就槓桿目標而言，我今天加了 3.6 倍。對於隨著時間的推移下降到 3.0 的下滑路徑有什麼看法嗎？然後是最後一個家政問題。 Mirko，我想您談到了在光纖可用的情況下，光纖和無線上的捆綁子系統數量增加了 22%。我想，如果我沒記錯的話，魁北克，我想你說的是成長 39%。也許您可以向我們介紹一下一年前這些數字的最新情況，因為我們想一想您在過去 12 個月左右的時間裡在這種融合捆綁策略中所看到的成功？

Okay. So on the last question in terms of the bundle, the percentage increases in bundled households by geography, I'll probably leave that to Thane for another time. Thank you for the question, Sebastiano.

好的。因此，關於捆綁方面的最後一個問題，即按地理位置捆綁家庭的百分比增加，我可能會再次將其留給塔恩。謝謝你的提問，塞巴斯蒂亞諾。

On business wireless growth, I think that was -- okay, so on wireless, in particular, your question around business wireless, I'd say in the big picture was one of the softer areas due to slower subscriber growth on the revenue side, and that reflects lower demand. And you kind of identified them in your questions in this channel, our customers are undertaking workforce rationalization programs of their own, also other cost rationalization initiatives, which are affecting price and that's a reflection of the general economic uncertainty. There's also been a leveling off in roaming due to lower travel, as you can imagine, as our customers look to control their own discretionary expenses and data overage continues to be something we're managing well but continues to be in decline, including in the business segment.

關於商業無線成長，我認為，好吧，在無線方面，特別是你關於商業無線的問題，我想說，從整體上看，由於收入方面的用戶增長放緩，這是較軟的領域之一，這反映出需求下降。您在這個管道的問題中已經指出了這些問題，我們的客戶正在實施自己的勞動力合理化計劃，以及其他成本合理化計劃，這些計劃正在影響價格，這反映了總體經濟的不確定性。正如您可以想像的那樣，由於旅行減少，漫遊量也趨於平穩，因為我們的客戶希望控制自己的可自由支配費用，而數據超額仍然是我們管理得很好的問題，但仍在下降，包括在業務板塊。

Yes. And on leverage, you're right. So a 3.0 target leverage. Now ultimately, it's a matter of driving free cash flow growth, which we're focused on, right? You got there a handful of different ways, Sebastiano. So it's revenue growth as we leverage and monetize our fiber asset and bundling strategy, as Mirko alluded to. Its continued cost transformation leveraging digital transformation and ultimately, as CapEx comes down following our heavy fiber build period, we'll look to drive more positive free cash flow, delever and restart our payout ratio.

是的。關於槓桿，你是對的。因此目標槓桿為 3.0。現在歸根結底，這是推動自由現金流成長的問題，這是我們關注的重點，對吧？你可以透過多種不同的方式到達那裡，塞巴斯蒂亞諾。因此，正如米爾科所提到的那樣，當我們利用我們的光纖資產和捆綁策略並將其貨幣化時，收入就會增長。其持續的成本轉型利用數位轉型，最終，隨著我們的重型光纖建設期後資本支出的下降，我們將尋求推動更積極的自由現金流、去槓桿化並重新啟動我們的支付率。

Yes. And on -- Sebastiano, just on Page 5 of our deck. So the 39% reference, it's mobility and Internet sales growth, like not internet but sales growth, and that's overall, not just in any one particular province are net. It's not on Page 5, but the combined mobility and Internet bundle nets have increased 100% year-over-year. So it shows you the traction we're getting with that strategy.

是的。還有──Sebastiano，就在我們牌組的第 5 頁。因此，39% 的參考值是行動性和網路銷售成長，不是互聯網，而是銷售成長，而這是整體而言，不僅僅是在任何特定省份都是淨成長。雖然不在第 5 頁，但行動和網路捆綁網路的總和年增了 100%。因此，它向您展示了我們透過該策略獲得的吸引力。

Our next question is from Drew McReynolds from RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行資本市場 (RBC Capital Markets) 的德魯·麥克雷諾茲 (Drew McReynolds)。

Just 2 for me. Mirko, in your commentary, you alluded to the advertising kind of recovery, which is great to see, just being uneven. Can you just unpack that a little bit for us in terms of where kind of pockets of strength and weaknesses are and how Q2 looks for you? And then secondly, one of your competitors just commenting on still continued relative kind of robust wireless market expansion here in 2024. Obviously, we see that continuation in Q1. Just what are your expectations for the remainder of the year? And how is Bell doing to certainly improve its share of new to Canada population growth?

對我來說只有2個。 Mirko，在您的評論中，您提到了廣告類型的復甦，這很高興看到，只是不平衡。您能否為我們稍微解釋一下您的優勢和劣勢以及第二季對您的影響？其次，您的一位競爭對手剛剛評論說，到 2024 年，無線市場仍會持續相對強勁的擴張。您對今年剩餘時間的期望是什麼？貝爾如何確保提高其在加拿大新人口成長中所佔的份額？

So I'll start with the second one. We do continue to see strong market expansion, and we're taking part in that quite successfully. And the way we're going to take advantage of that growth, whether it's new to category or new to Canada is through our very strong distribution. So we're quite pleased with the results we're seeing from the Staples partnership we have, which has been in place for a year now, and that continues to improve. The other Best Buy Express is going to start kicking in, in the latter part of this year, and we see that as being a high potential distribution channel.

那我將從第二個開始。我們確實繼續看到強勁的市場擴張，我們正在非常成功地參與其中。我們利用這種成長的方式，無論是新類別還是新加拿大，都是透過我們非常強大的分銷。因此，我們對與史台普斯的合作關係所取得的成果感到非常滿意，這種合作關係已經存在一年了，而且還在不斷改善。另一個百思買快遞將於今年下半年開始投入使用，我們認為這是一個極具潛力的分銷管道。

And the other one that I mentioned, which is very recent with the no name mobile program, I think we're going to see some strong success there. And all of those, particularly the last one, I think, plays very nicely in terms of our desire to get bigger share or better share in the new to Canada category. And we've made strong progress in that segment.

我提到的另一個項目是最近推出的無名移動項目，我認為我們將在那裡看到一些巨大的成功。我認為，所有這些，特別是最後一個，對於我們在加拿大新類別中獲得更大份額或更好份額的願望來說，都發揮了非常好的作用。我們在該領域取得了巨大進展。

We're not where I want to be. Again, we've been very transparent about that. But when we put our focus on something, we tend to execute really well. So you're seeing the building blocks being put in place and you're going to see us gather a more appropriate share in that segment.

我們不是我想去的地方。再說一遍，我們對此非常透明。但當我們把注意力集中在某件事上時，我們往往會執行得很好。因此，您將看到建置模組已就位，並且您將看到我們在該細分市場中獲得更合適的份額。

And on the advertising market on the Media side, I think in terms of pockets of strength, really where we saw good growth was in radio advertising revenue and in the Out of Home segment as well was up nicely. TV advertising revenue, not as strong as the growth in Radio and Out of Home but certainly an improvement over what we've seen recently. And so when you put all those together, TV advertising, radio advertising, Out of Home, we saw growth for the first time in a while. So that's great. We're one of the only ones who've been able to pull that off.

在媒體方面的廣告市場上，我認為就實力而言，我們真正看到良好成長的是廣播廣告收入，戶外廣告收入也有很好的成長。電視廣告收入雖然不如廣播和戶外廣告收入成長強勁，但肯定比我們最近看到的有所改善。因此，當你把電視廣告、廣播廣告、戶外廣告等所有這些放在一起時，我們一段時間以來第一次看到了增長。那太好了。我們是唯一能夠實現這一目標的公司之一。

It's hard on your question about what I see for Q2 and going forward. It's hard to answer. I don't want to dodge your question. It's just -- it's too choppy to call. On the conventional side, there are -- some challenges remain on the digital side. It's good. So we'll just keep managing it. And we've got to just continue to believe in the strategy that we put in place several years ago which is the hard pivot to digital. So having the very best content on all the platforms that customers actually want to use to view our content, and that's how we're going to drive growth in this business, and we're seeing the early green shoots. So I'm pretty optimistic.

關於我對第二季和未來的看法，你的問題很難回答。很難回答。我不想迴避你的問題。只是——打電話太不穩定了。在傳統方面，數位方面仍存在一些挑戰。很好。所以我們會繼續管理它。我們必須繼續相信我們幾年前製定的策略，這是向數位化的硬支點。因此，在客戶真正想要用來查看我們內容的所有平台上擁有最好的內容，這就是我們推動這項業務成長的方式，而且我們正在看到早期的萌芽。所以我非常樂觀。

Our next question is from Simon Flannery from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的西蒙·弗蘭納裡。

I wonder if I could continue on the broadband theme. Could you give us a little bit more color on your fiber passings and where the pacing is going? Obviously, the CapEx is down, but I think you referenced a positive winter weather condition. So where are we looking at for passing this year? And give us some sense, if you could, of the loading upside that you still have with the penetration rates you're seeing in your mature markets? And how much room you have in some of these other markets to get there? And then fixed wireless is something that we've seen a lot in the U.S. and [Rogers] has been talking about recently. What are you seeing in the market in terms of competition from fixed wireless? And are you thinking more about expanding that beyond sort of more rural areas into parts of the country where perhaps you're not the wireline operator?

我想知道我是否可以繼續寬頻主題。您能給我們更多關於您的光纖通道和節奏的資訊嗎？顯然，資本支出下降了，但我認為您提到了積極的冬季天氣狀況。那麼，今年我們該在哪裡尋找通過的機會呢？如果可以的話，請讓我們了解一下您在成熟市場中看到的滲透率仍然具有的裝載優勢？您在其他一些市場中還有多少空間可以實現這一目標？然後固定無線是我們在美國經常看到的東西，[羅傑斯]最近一直在談論。您認為市場上來自固定無線的競爭如何？您是否更多地考慮將其擴展到更多農村地區之外，進入該國可能不是有線運營商的部分地區？

Thank you for that, Simon. So on fixed wireless first, we're not seeing any competitive impacts to our core Internet business from fixed wireless competition. As I've said in the past, and I firmly believe, I don't think the fixed wireless product is going to be a competitive substitute in urban markets where there is fiber, which is by far the superior technology and Tier 1 premium cable. I don't think it's going to be a product that hunts. We don't intend to increase the footprint of our fixed wireless product. We were the first to launch fixed wireless Internet at scale and it works well, as I've said before, in rural areas where there is no broadband option or low-speed broadband, and that's where we're going to continue to focus with our product.

謝謝你，西蒙。因此，首先在固定無線方面，我們沒有看到固定無線競爭對我們的核心網路業務產生任何競爭影響。正如我過去所說，並且我堅信，我認為固定無線產品不會成為有光纖的城市市場的有競爭力的替代品，光纖是迄今為止最先進的技術和一級優質電纜。我不認為它會成為一款狩獵產品。我們不打算增加固定無線產品的佔地面積。我們是第一個大規模推出固定無線互聯網的公司，正如我之前所說，它在沒有寬頻選項或低速寬頻的農村地區運作良好，這就是我們將繼續關注的領域我們的產品。

And on fiber passings, the first question, we -- on our February call, we moved away from giving projections on an annual basis, and I'll stick with our plan now is to pass 8.3 million locations by the end of 2025. That was once a target of 9 million locations by the end of 2025. We've taken that down as a result of recent regulatory decisions and that's -- and as a result, we've also taken the CapEx down from -- by $1 billion over 2024 and 2025.

關於光纖通過率，第一個問題，在 2 月的電話會議上，我們放棄了每年進行預測，我現在堅持我們的計劃，即到 2025 年底通過 830 萬個地點。 900 萬個地點。

So if you take CapEx down to that degree, you're going to take down your fiber passings targets. So 8.3 million remain -- we remain on track for that 8.3 million. And we'll get there over the rest of this year in 2025. And we still have a strong fiber penetration growth that we expect across our entire footprint. We're not where we want to be on market share yet. And that's from Manitoba all the way to (inaudible).

因此，如果您將資本支出降低到這個程度，您就會降低光纖傳輸目標。因此，還剩下 830 萬人——我們仍有望實現 830 萬。我們將在今年剩餘時間（即 2025 年）實現這一目標。我們的市場佔有率還沒有達到我們想要的水平。這是從馬尼托巴省一直到（聽不清楚）。

Our next question is from Jerome Dubreuil from Desjardins Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 Desjardins Securities 的 Jerome Dubreuil。

Two for me. First one, I think we all know the answer, but the -- I think it would be beneficial to have it out there. Any chance that the dividend in 2024 is not what has been communicated for the rest of the year? And then the second question, are there assets that you think you might like that you might acquire that could help you -- maybe put you in a position to generate maybe accelerated sustainable top line growth?

給我兩個。第一個，我想我們都知道答案，但是——我認為把它公佈出來是有益的。 2024 年的股息是否有可能與今年剩餘時間傳達的股息不同？然後是第二個問題，您是否認為您可能會喜歡獲得一些可以幫助您的資產——也許可以讓您加速可持續的營收成長？

So on further assets, I'm going to not comment just because any deliberations we have internally on those kinds of things are strategically and competitively sensitive. But I do appreciate the question. It's something that we deliberate strategically, you always think about things like that. So I understand and appreciate the question but just don't think we should answer it. And the dividend is as -- for 2024, the dividend is as stated -- as was stated in February. That's the dividend.

因此，對於其他資產，我不會發表評論，因為我們內部對此類事情的任何審議都具有戰略和競爭敏感性。但我確實很欣賞這個問題。這是我們策略性地考慮的事情，你總是會考慮這樣的事情。所以我理解並理解這個問題，但只是認為我們不應該回答它。 2024 年的股利如 2 月所述。這就是股息。

Good. Seen as though we are timing out, we need to transit to our AGM location. We will call it a day on the conference call. So thank you very much for your participation. As usual, the IR team will be available throughout the day for follow-up questions and clarifications. On that, have a great day.

好的。看來我們已經超時了，我們需要前往年度股東大會地點。我們的電話會議就到此為止了。非常感謝您的參與。像往常一樣，IR 團隊將全天為您解答後續問題並澄清。就這樣，祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you, everyone.

謝謝大家。