The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Canada's big telcos are gearing up for another active year of deal-making, as they prepare to shed non-core assets, pay down debt and finance new areas of growth. The Globe's Irene Galea writes, however, that in a sluggish telecom market, there is still a long road ahead for BCE, Rogers and Telus as they aim to pay down their combined long-term debt load of nearly $100-billion. "Regardless of the playbook, what has become clear to us is that the long-standing status quo for Canadian operators no longer cuts it for stakeholders," RBC analyst Drew McReynolds said in a December report. The major players are coping with the reality of the Canadian telecom environment, DBRS credit rater Scott Rattee said. And with one telecom's credit rating just one step above junk and the others two levels up, there is not much room for error. If 2025 was "a staging year" for the telcos' plans to rebalance, Mr. Rattee said, "Now we're going to have to see them execute." While both Moody's and DBRS have a stable or positive outlook for Rogers's debt, S&P revised its outlook to negative in November. S&P says it could take up to 18 months for material deleveraging.