Rogers 2012 Annual Report Download - page 8

co-operate on global M2M business
initiatives supporting a single, global
platform that multinational customers can
leverage to enable connected devices in
multiple countries.
To deepen our multi-product presence in
millions of Canadian homes, we’ve also
developed and commercialized Rogers Smart
Home Monitoring, an advanced real-time
home monitoring, automation and security
service. Smart Home Monitoring, which
leverages our wireless and broadband
networks for redundant connectivity, allows
for remote access, monitoring and control of
the home from Internet-connected
computers and smartphones, as well as real-
time alerts and remote video viewing.
We also had good success growing our wired
telephony revenues from the business
segment, where we grew Internet and
telephony revenues from the small business
segment by 24% and the on-net next
generation portion of our enterprise segment
revenues by 27% in RBS. And we launched
unique solutions to support these customers,
such as the exclusive availability of OutRank,
a best-in-class online marketing solution that
simply and affordably helps small businesses
develop an online presence with website
development, paid search marketing, search
engine optimization and a performance
dashboard. We continue to invest in a
number of other cross-platform
opportunities to take advantage of the shift
in advertising dollars that is occurring from
traditional to digital forms of media.
We took another large step forward in our
strategy of being Canada’s sports content
leader with our 37.5% investment in Maple
Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. MLSE owns
the NHL Maple Leafs, NBA Raptors, MLS
Toronto FC and a number of other iconic
sports related assets, and the investment
greatly advances our strategy of delivering
highly sought-after content anywhere,
anytime, on any platform across our
broadband and wireless networks.
We quickly followed the MLSE investment
with the acquisition of theScore Television
Network - a national specialty TV service and
Canada’s third-largest specialty sports channel
that provides sports news, information and
highlights, and live event programming.
GIVING BACK
Delivering value for our customers and
shareholders is critically important, and
giving back to the communities where we do
business is one of our core values. Early in
2012, we launched Rogers Youth Fund, an
important initiative in support of Canadian
youth and education. This represents Rogers’
national commitment to help Canada’s
at-risk youth overcome barriers to education,
empowering them to succeed in the
classroom and beyond. Later in the year, we
further supported this initiative with the
launch of Rogers’ new Employee Volunteer
Program, which provides a company-
sponsored opportunity for everyone at
Rogers to get behind volunteering and the
Rogers Youth Fund.
While we made tremendous strides in our
business during 2012, it was a tough year
and no one felt that more than the
thousands of talented, hardworking
employees across Rogers. I’d like to express
my gratitude to each of them for their
incredible efforts and dedication.
A few weeks ago, Rogers was recognized at
the prestigious 2013 Investor Relations
Magazine Canada Awards with the award
for Best Investor Relations by a Technology or
Telecommunications Company. We work
hard at Rogers to be transparent and
responsive with the investment community,
and take pride in this recognition – which I
believe is a measure of our sincere
commitment to long-term value creation
on behalf of our shareholders.
As we announced in February 2013, after
13 years at Rogers and more than 30 years
in the telecom industry, I will be retiring as
the President and CEO in 2014. The Rogers
Board has undertaken a process to appoint
a successor, I fully expect a smooth and
seamless transition, and right now I am
wholly focused on the continued execution
of our plan during 2013.
I am as enthusiastic as ever about the
future for Rogers and, on behalf of Rogers’
employees, management and Board of
Directors, thank you for your continued
investment and support.
At the same time, to energize the Rogers
shopping experience for our wireless and
cable customers, we unveiled a new retail
store design for our Rogers Plus stores that’s
centered on a more personalized and
integrated service approach.
While we have made significant strides in
strengthening the customer experience
at Rogers, we have much more to do to
consistently deliver a simple and flawless
experience for our customers, and this is a
journey we’re committed to.
Improve Productivity and Cost Structure
We successfully implemented a number of
cost management and productivity
improvement initiatives across the business
during 2012. These initiatives enabled us to
make significant additional investments in
our customers, while at the same time
expanding margins and operating leverage.
The priority was on intelligent efficiency
gains and focused execution, including
reducing the number of initiatives we
undertake, consolidating work and reducing
duplication, tightening our entire supply
chain, eliminating calls into the call centre,
and enhancing our discipline around
discretionary spending. This is an ongoing
process that will allow us to invest in
strengthening the value we deliver to our
customers.
Drive Future Growth Opportunities
We made solid steps in continuing to develop
and deploy products and services under our
growth initiatives, including the historic first
SIM-based mobile payment transaction ever
processed in Canada. Together with CIBC,
we established Canada’s first mobile
payment solution. This allows Canadians to
pay for purchases with their CIBC credit card
at the checkout counter of businesses across
the country where contactless credit card
payments are already accepted using a NFC-
enabled Rogers smartphone.
Rogers has also been at the forefront of
laying the foundation and developing the
ecosystem to allow M2M wireless
communications to continue to rapidly
expand in Canada. To turbo-charge the
already significant M2M opportunity, we
formed an alliance with international mobile
operators KPN, NTT Docomo, SingTel,
Telefónica, Telstra and Vimpelcom to
LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS
CONTINUED
Nadir Mohamed, FCA
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC.
04 ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS INC. 2012 ANNUAL REPORT