The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Canada's four largest telcos have become increasingly weighed down by a key metric they have relied upon to build their businesses: debt. The Globe's Irene Galea writes that at the end of 2000, Rogers, BCE, Telus and Freedom Mobile owner Quebecor together had about $20-billion in long-term debt. Fast-forward to today, and that amount has quintupled to more than $100-billion. As intense competition between the large carriers coincides with slower overall sector growth, that debt has become difficult to ignore. The telcos have made aggressive plans to reduce leverage, and have been offloading assets, turning to joint ventures and cutting dividend payouts to reduce the strain. While the total amount of debt matters, the ratio of a company's debt load to its earnings is even more important. After a decade of decline in the 2000s, the telcos' debt-leverage ratios began steadily creeping back up around 2010. The telecom sector typically aims for a ratio of about three times net debt-to-EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). As of the end of the last quarter, Rogers's ratio was 4.3, Telus's was 3.8, BCE's was 3.5 and Quebecor's was 3.2.