Quebecor Inc.

Good day, everyone. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Quebecor, Inc.' 's financial results for the third quarter conference call. I would like to introduce Hugues Simard, Chief Financial Officer of Quebecor, Inc. Please go ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this Quebecor conference call. My name is Hugues Simard. I'm the CFO. And joining me to discuss our financial and operating results for the third quarter of 2024 is Pierre-Claude Péladeau, our President and CEO. Anyone unable to attend the conference call will be able to listen to a recording by telephone or webcast. Access details are available on our website, and the recording is available, will be available until February the 5th, 2025. As usual, I want to inform you that certain statements made on the call today may be considered forward-looking, and we would refer you to the risk factors outlined in today's press release and reports filed by the corporation with the regulatory authorities. Let me now turn the floor to Pierre Campbell.

Merci, Hugues, and good morning, everyone. So more than 15 years ago, recognizing a huge opportunity in Quebec and across Canada, Quebec was set up on a growth strategy based on wireless. First launching as an MVNO, then building our own network and further acquiring Freedom Mobile, we have never wavered in our resolve or direction. We invested wisely, stayed the course, and established ourselves not only as a solid lasting fourth quarter in the Canadian telecom industry, but most importantly, as a lower price, better and faster alternative to the big three. As proof that our strategy is paying off, we continue to outperform our competitors, and I'm proud to report our best ever quarterly wireless loading performance of 132 net additions and a remarkable year-over-year performance of 352,000 new lines. Collectively, Luton, Prism, and Fizz now have 4,050,700 total mobile active lines, a significant milestone achieved in quite a short time. Each of our three brands continue to improve its performance quarter after quarter, resonating more and more with Canadians across the country with innovative and affordable products and services. We have created a healthy, competitive environment, giving Canadians more choice, lower prices, and better experience. We will spare no efforts as we press on with our strategy of sustainable, profitable wireless market sale share growth. Before turning to our operational results, I would like to comment on a few regulatory issues. First, we are happy with the CRTC decision on wholesale roaming rates and rate setting approach, which will support our continued expansion to better rates that finally reflect current market dynamics after years of being geared towards the sole benefit of the big three at the expense of the Canadian consumers. Given that the MVNO rates are already outdated and much higher than current market rates, it is crucial not only to obtain fair rates for all style roaming access, but also to ensure the decrease year over year following market trends. However, we were very disappointed with the CRTC October decision on access to fiber internet networks. Quite honestly, we don't understand how Bell was able to convince the CRTC and how The CRTC listened and ruled that these rates reflect their actual cost while their multiple brands offer the service directly to customers at a cost of about 50% of the FTP access rates. I repeat, the all various brands retail price is about 50% of what we would need to pay to offer STTP services. Never was there a TPIA rate ruling that made so little economic sense. We have hoped for a decision that reflects market reality and would have allowed us to offer much lower freedom internet prices as we have been doing with wireless services for more than 18 months. Unfortunately, the CRTC's decision will prevent us from launching our services on these networks, denying Canadians better service and lower prices, and we urge the CRTC to review and adjust the rates in their permanent decision.