Without a doubt, we have improved. Our complaints made up about 30% of what was filed with the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS). We’re at 16%, which is still pretty great and impressive.
But we have a lot of work to do to change perceptions and we are going to do it. Today, we are ready to bounce back, especially in Quebec, to once again become the trusted brand among Quebecers. You have to offer the best service. Optical fiber, six, seven or eight years ago, we did not have it as much as today. The first element is the quality of the service, it is the most important because that is what the subscriber pays us for each month. If he’s going to give us the $60, $100 or $250 if he buys everything, it has to be good.
Second element, we must allow the customer to manage their services as they want, and now we have the My Bell application which has been improved. Third, a large part of the complaints against us relate to billing. There, we have a single ordering and invoicing system, all customers will migrate there gradually. There will be a good improvement in this area. For customer service, it was not easy. We had two call centers, one for Bell Mobility, one for the internet. There, we have paired the call centers, so only one person can take care of the customer.
There’s a lot of work to do, it’s a long journey, but I’m very proud of the team. I see the results every month. We have 1 million fiber optic subscribers: Quebecers are not wrong, they choose the best product if we offer the right value.
Our sales for our Fibe internet service are still quite impressive; 70% of our sales are at speeds above 1 gigabit. Think about it: 70% of consumers. This is the answer.
They can choose 500 megabits for less. They choose 1 gigabit. The other aspect which is very important is that we offer symmetrical, equivalent download and upload services. Uploading is very important, when we’re at home, we’re trying to work, the kids are doing their homework, there’s someone gaming, someone else watching Crave…
Not Bell. For 5G (launched in June 2022 on 3.5 GHz frequencies), we charge a little more. Networks and investments must be made profitable.
I get asked this question quite often. Is there what we call in English a “killer app” on 5G? The answer is no. Are people buying it? Yes. They’re getting a 5G smartphone, they all are. To truly benefit from the power of the phone, you must subscribe to the 5G network. More than 50% of our Bell Mobility service subscribers are on 5G. The growth is still impressive. In the third quarter, over the previous 12 months, we increased our subscribers on the 5G network by 25%. It is requested. We have made the investments, we have a cutting-edge network and Canadians and Quebecers subscribe to it.
Our advertisements are different in Quebec than elsewhere in the country. What is common is that we highlight the superiority of fiber optic networks compared to cable. We have invested 15 billion dollars from Manitoba to Newfoundland, 4 billion in Quebec, to rebuild our networks from scratch, we are doing it for a reason: we are doing it to have an appropriate market share given the investments. One way to do this is to highlight the security and value that fiber offers.
The common front is done directly, or indirectly as far as we are concerned, in the submissions that we submit to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). These are the suggestions we are making to improve the regulatory framework. In terms of the platforms and products that we offer to consumers at Bell Media, we have made the necessary investments, we are making the very important shift towards digital. We have made the necessary investments. We must now focus on the regulatory framework.
