Rogers and Videotron to build-out expanded LTE network in Québec and Ottawa

May 30, 2013 News Releases

Shared network will bring benefits of LTE to more consumers and
businesses by 2014
Expanded LTE coverage in rural regions

MONTRÉAL, May 29, 2013 /CNW/ – Today, Videotron and Rogers announced an
agreement to bring LTE to even more customers in the province of Québec
and the Ottawa region. Under the 20-year agreement, the two companies
will pool their efforts to quickly build out and operate a shared LTE
wireless network, the most advanced wireless technology in the world.
This network will deliver an optimal user experience for consumers and
businesses in both key markets.

This announcement builds on Rogers extensive LTE footprint across
Canada, including Montreal, Ottawa and Québec City. The fast-paced
rollout of LTE infrastructure will position the two companies to meet
the steadily growing needs of consumers and businesses, ensuring many
more can enjoy incredibly fast speeds, throughput and take advantage of
the latest and greatest LTE enabled devices.

“This agreement will benefit businesses and consumers and is part of
Rogers focused, strategic game plan,” said Nadir Mohamed, President and
Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications Inc. “This network and
spectrum sharing agreement, combined with the expansion of our LTE
footprint, will allow even more consumers to experience the superior
connectivity and incredibly fast speeds that LTE delivers.”

“This is excellent news for our customers and our shareholders. This
agreement will enable us to go farther and to do it faster and is
indicative of our determination to anticipate our customers’ needs and
to maintain the close relationship we have built with them.” said
Robert Dépatie, President and CEO of Quebecor Inc. and CEO of
Videotron.

Under this agreement, Videotron and Rogers will share the cost of
deploying and operating a shared LTE network. This will deliver capital
and operating savings, allowing both companies to reinvest in their
customers and networks. Videotron and Rogers will maintain their
business independence, including their product and service portfolios,
billing systems and customer data.

Benefits for consumers and businesses
The network sharing agreement will leverage existing infrastructure in
many of Quebec’s urban and rural centres. The fast build-out of the LTE
mobile network will further improve the quality of the customer
experience and enable both carriers to better anticipate and respond to
their customers’ needs.

For its part, Videotron will also be able to expand its handset line-up.
“It is always advantageous to have several options in a fast-changing
wireless market,” added Robert Dépatie. “This is another benefit that
the agreement will bring our customers.”

Better rural coverage and competitive advantage for business
In addition to increasing network performance, this agreement will
expand mobile coverage more quickly in rural Québec, helping to reduce
the urban-rural digital divide.

“These improvements will directly enhance the competitiveness of Québec
businesses and help meet the demand for more powerful mobile services.
In this sense, all of Québec and the Ottawa region will benefit from
this agreement. The agreement we have reached will enable us and Rogers
alike to make more efficient use of our spectrum, and to derive maximum
benefit from our investments,” said Robert Dépatie. “The required
capital expenditures will be less than if the two companies would have
built out parallel LTE access networks.”

In addition to the network sharing agreement, Videotron and Rogers have
also come to an agreement regarding Videotron’s unused AWS spectrum in
the Greater Toronto Area. Videotron will have the option to transfer
its Toronto spectrum licence to Rogers, subject to regulatory
approvals, beginning January 1, 2014 for a price of $180 million.

“Data usage is exploding and customers want to continue to enjoy the
fastest possible speeds and throughput. Our plan is to put this unused
spectrum to use to meet this demand, especially in a dense urban area,
like Toronto,” said Mohamed.

As part of the overall agreement, Rogers and Videotron will each provide
each other with services for which Rogers will receive $200 million and
Videotron $93 million, payable over a period of 10 years.

About Rogers
Rogers Communications is a diversified Canadian communications and media
company. We are engaged in wireless voice and data communications
services through Wireless, Canada’s largest wireless provider. Through
Cable, we are one of Canada’s leading providers of cable television
services as well as high-speed Internet access and telephony services
to consumers and businesses. Through Media, we are engaged in radio and
television broadcasting, televised shopping, sports entertainment, and
magazines and trade publications. We are publicly traded on the Toronto
Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) and on the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE: RCI). For further information about the Rogers group of
companies, please visit www.rogers.com.

About Videotron
Videotron (www.videotron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is an integrated
communications company engaged in cable television, interactive
multimedia development, and Internet access, cable telephone and mobile
telephone services. Videotron is a leader in new technologies with its
illico interactive television service and its broadband network, which
supports high-speed cable Internet access, analog and digital cable
television, and other services. As of March 31, 2013, Videotron was
serving 1,849,200 cable television customers, including 1,500,300
subscribers Digital TV. Videotron is also the Québec leader in
high-speed Internet access, with 1,397,300 subscribers to its cable
service as of March 31, 2013. As of the same date, Videotron had
420,900 subscriber connections to its mobile telephone service and was
providing cable telephone service to 1,274,000 Québec households and
organizations. For the eighth consecutive year, Videotron was ranked as
Québec’s most respected telecommunications company by Les Affaires magazine, based on a Léger Marketing survey.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements, Risks and Assumptions:
This release includes “forward-looking information” within the meaning
of applicable securities laws and assumptions concerning the
acquisition of wireless spectrum as detailed above. We caution that
all forward-looking information is inherently subject to change and
uncertainty and that actual results may differ materially from those
expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. A number of
risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results and
events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the
forward-looking information or could cause our current objectives,
strategies and intentions to change, including but not limited to
various regulatory approvals. Many of these factors are beyond our
control and current expectation or knowledge. Should one or more of
these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, our
objectives, strategies or intentions change, or any other factors or
assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect,
our actual results and our plans could vary significantly from what we
currently foresee. Accordingly, we warn investors to exercise caution
when considering statements containing forward-looking information and
that it would be unreasonable to rely on such statements as creating
legal rights regarding our future results or plans. We are under no
obligation (and we expressly disclaim any such obligation) to update or
alter any statements containing forward-looking information, the
factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. All
of the forward-looking information in this earnings release is
qualified by the cautionary statements herein.

SOURCE: Rogers Communications Inc.