Exhibit 97

BCE INC. POLICY FOR THE

RECOVERY OF ERRONEOUSLY AWARDED INCENTIVE-BASED COMPENSATION

FROM EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

I. BACKGROUND

BCE Inc. (the “Company”) has adopted this policy (this “Policy”) to provide for the recovery or “clawback” of certain incentive compensation in the event of a Restatement (as defined below). This Policy is intended to comply with, and will be interpreted to be consistent with, the requirements of Section 303A.14 of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) Listed Company Manual (the “Listing Standard”).

II. STATEMENT OF POLICY

The Company shall recover reasonably promptly the amount of erroneously awarded Incentive-Based Compensation in the event that the Company is required to prepare an accounting restatement due to the material noncompliance of the Company with any financial reporting requirement under applicable securities laws, including any required accounting restatement to correct an error in previously issued financial statements that is material to the previously issued financial statements, or that would result in a material misstatement if the error were corrected in the current period or left uncorrected in the current period (a “Restatement”).

The Company shall recover erroneously awarded Incentive-Based Compensation in compliance with this Policy except to the extent provided under the section entitled “V. Exceptions” herein.

III. SCOPE OF POLICY

A. Covered Persons and Recovery Period. This Policy applies to all Incentive-Based Compensation received by a person:

Notwithstanding this look-back requirement, the Company is only required to apply this Policy to Incentive-Based Compensation received on or after October 2, 2023.

For purposes of this Policy, Incentive-Based Compensation shall be deemed “received” in the Company’s fiscal period during which the Financial Reporting Measure (as defined herein) specified in the Incentive-Based Compensation award is attained, even if the payment or grant of the Incentive-Based Compensation occurs after the end of that period.

B. Transition Period. In addition to the Recovery Period, this Policy applies to any transition period (that results from a change in the Company’s fiscal year) within or immediately following the Recovery Period (a “Transition Period”), provided that a Transition Period between the last day of the Company’s previous fiscal year end and the first day of the Company’s new fiscal year that comprises a period of nine to 12 months will be deemed a completed fiscal year. For clarity, the Company’s obligation to recover erroneously awarded Incentive-Based Compensation under this Policy is not dependent on if or when a Restatement is filed.

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C. Determining Recovery Period. For purposes of determining the relevant Recovery Period, the date that the Company is required to prepare the Restatement is the earlier to occur of:

IV. AMOUNT SUBJECT TO RECOVERY

A. Recoverable Amount. The amount of Incentive-Based Compensation subject to recovery under this Policy is the amount of Incentive-Based Compensation received that exceeds the amount of Incentive-Based Compensation that otherwise would have been received had it been determined based on the restated amounts, computed without regard to any taxes paid.

B. Covered Compensation Based on the Company’s Common Share Price or TSR. For Incentive-Based Compensation based on the price of the Company’s common shares or total shareholder return (“TSR”), where the amount of erroneously awarded Incentive-Based Compensation is not subject to mathematical recalculation directly from the information in a Restatement, the recoverable amount shall be based on a reasonable estimate of the effect of the Restatement on the share price or TSR upon which the Incentive-Based Compensation was received. In such event, the Company shall maintain documentation of the determination of that reasonable estimate and provide such documentation to the NYSE.

V. EXCEPTIONS

The Company shall recover erroneously awarded Incentive-Based Compensation in compliance with this Policy except to the extent that the conditions set out below are met and the Management Resources and Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) has made a determination that recovery would be impracticable:

A. Direct Expense Exceeds Recoverable Amount. The direct expense paid to a third party to assist in enforcing this Policy would exceed the amount to be recovered; provided, however, that before concluding it would be impracticable to recover any amount of erroneously awarded Incentive-Based Compensation based on the anticipated expense of enforcement, the Company shall make a reasonable attempt to recover such erroneously awarded Incentive-Based Compensation, document such reasonable attempt(s) to recover, and provide that documentation to the NYSE.

B. Violation of Home Country Law. Recovery would violate applicable Canadian federal or provincial law (“Canadian law”) where that law was adopted prior to November 28, 2022; provided, however, that before concluding it would be impracticable to recover any amount of erroneously awarded Incentive-Based Compensation based on violation of Canadian law, the Company shall obtain an opinion of Canadian counsel, acceptable to the NYSE, that recovery would result in such a violation, and shall provide such opinion to NYSE.

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C. Recovery from Certain Tax-Qualified Retirement Plans. Recovery would likely cause an otherwise tax-qualified retirement plan, under which benefits are broadly available to employees of the Company, to fail to meet the requirements of 26 U.S.C. 401(a)(13) or 26 U.S.C. 411(a) and regulations thereunder.

VI. PROHIBITION AGAINST INDEMNIFICATION

The Company shall not indemnify any Executive Officer or former Executive Officer against the loss of erroneously awarded Incentive-Based Compensation.

VII. DISCLOSURE

The Company shall file all disclosures with respect to recoveries under this Policy in accordance with the requirements of all applicable Canadian and U.S. Federal securities laws, including the disclosure required to be included in applicable Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings.

VIII. DEFINITIONS

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions apply for purposes of this Policy:

“Executive Officer” means the Company’s president, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer (or if there is no such accounting officer, the controller), any vice-president of the Company in charge of a principal business unit, division, or function (such as sales, administration, or finance), any other officer who performs a policy-making function, or any other person who performs similar policymaking functions for the Company. Executive officers of the Company’s subsidiaries are deemed Executive Officers of the Company if they perform such policy making functions for the Company. Policy-making function is not intended to include policymaking functions that are not significant. Identification of an Executive Officer for purposes of this Policy will include at a minimum executive officers identified pursuant to 17 CFR 229.401(b).

“Financial Reporting Measures” means any of the following: (i) measures that are determined and presented in accordance with the accounting principles used in preparing the Company’s financial statements, and any measures that are derived wholly or in part from such measures, (ii) stock price and (iii) TSR. A Financial Reporting Measure need not be presented within the Company’s financial statements or included in a filing with the SEC.

“Incentive-Based Compensation” means any compensation that is granted, earned, or vested based wholly or in part upon the attainment of a Financial Reporting Measure.

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IX. ADMINISTRATION; AMENDMENT; TERMINATION.

All determinations under this Policy will be made by the Committee, including determinations regarding how any recovery under this Policy is effected. Any determinations of the Committee will be final, binding and conclusive and need not be uniform with respect to each individual covered by this Policy.

The Committee may amend this Policy from time to time and may terminate this Policy at any time, in each case in its sole discretion.

X. EFFECTIVENESS; OTHER RECOUPMENT RIGHTS

This Policy shall be effective as of December 1, 2023. Any right of recoupment under this Policy is in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other remedies or rights of recoupment that may be available to the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates under applicable law or pursuant to the terms of any similar policy or similar provision in any employment agreement, equity award agreement or similar agreement.

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In this Annual Information Form, we, us, our, BCE and the company mean, as the context may require, either BCE Inc. or, collectively, BCE Inc., Bell Canada, their subsidiaries, joint arrangements and associates. Bell means, as the context may require, either Bell Canada or, collectively, Bell Canada, its subsidiaries, joint arrangements and associates.

Each section of BCE’s 2022, 2023 and 2024 management’s discussion and analysis (BCE 2022 MD&A, BCE 2023 MD&A and BCE 2024 MD&A, respectively) and each section of BCE’s 2024 consolidated financial statements referred to in this Annual Information Form is incorporated by reference herein. No other document shall be considered to be incorporated by reference in this Annual Information Form. The BCE 2022 MD&A, BCE 2023 MD&A, BCE 2024 MD&A and BCE 2024 consolidated financial statements have been filed with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities (available at sedarplus.ca) and with the United States (U.S.) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as exhibits to BCE’s annual reports on Form 40-F (available at sec.gov). They are also available on BCE’s website at BCE.ca.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, documents and other information contained in BCE’s website or in any other site referred to in BCE’s website or in this Annual Information Form are not part of this Annual Information Form and are not incorporated by reference herein.

All dollar figures are in Canadian dollars, unless stated otherwise. The information in this Annual Information Form is as of March 6, 2025, unless stated otherwise, and except for information in documents incorporated by reference that have a different date.

Trademarks in this Annual Information Form which are owned or used under licence by BCE Inc., Bell Canada or their subsidiaries include, without limitation, BCE, BELL Design, BELL MOBILITY and BELL MEDIA. This Annual Information Form also includes trademarks of other parties. The trademarks referred to in this Annual Information Form may be listed without the ® and TM symbols.

© BCE Inc., 2025. All rights reserved.

Table of contents

Certain statements made in this Annual Information Form are forward-looking statements. These statements include, without limitation, statements relating to the proposed acquisition by Bell Canada of Northwest Fiber Holdco, LLC (doing business as Ziply Fiber (Ziply Fiber)), the expected timing and completion thereof, the sources of liquidity we expect to use to fund the proposed acquisition, certain potential benefits expected to result from the proposed acquisition including the combined Bell Canada and Ziply Fiber target number of fibre locations to be reached by the end of 2028, Bell Canada’s growth prospects and strategic positioning, the proposed disposition of BCE’s ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE), the expected timing and completion thereof, the intended use by BCE of the net proceeds from the proposed disposition and the planned access by Bell Media to content rights for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors for the next 20 years, the proposed disposition of Northwestel Inc. (Northwestel), the expected timing and completion thereof, the intended use by Bell Canada of the proceeds from the proposed disposition and the planned continuation of a Bell Canada partnership with Northwestel beyond transaction close, BCE’s common share dividend, expected dividend payout ratio level in 2025 and dividend payout policy target, the reduction of BCE’s net debt leverage ratio, BCE’s anticipated reductions in capital expenditures, BCE’s network deployment plans, the status of the Shareholder Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan (DRP) and the time period during which the discount thereunder will be maintained by BCE, our transformation initiatives, the successful development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, either by us or pursuant to certain partnerships entered into by BCE, the intended use of the net proceeds of Bell Canada’s offering of debt securities, BCE’s business, outlook, objectives, plans and strategic priorities, and other statements that do not refer to historical facts. A statement we make is forward-looking when it uses what we know and expect today to make a statement about the future. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the words assumption, goal, guidance, objective, outlook, project, strategy, target, commitment and other similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as aim, anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, seek, should, strive, will and would. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbour provisions of applicable Canadian securities laws and of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Unless otherwise indicated by us, forward-looking statements in this Annual Information Form describe our expectations as at March 6, 2025 and, accordingly, are subject to change after that date. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Forward-looking statements, by their very nature, are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties and are based on several assumptions, both general and specific, which give rise to the possibility that actual results or events could differ materially from our expectations expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking statements and that our business outlook, objectives, plans and strategic priorities may not be achieved. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or events, and we caution you against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are presented in this Annual Information Form for the purpose of assisting investors and others in understanding our objectives, strategic priorities and business outlook, as well as our anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned, however, that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes.

Subject to various factors, we believe that the assumptions on which the forward-looking statements made in this Annual Information Form are based were reasonable as at March 6, 2025. Refer in particular to the sub-sections of the BCE 2024 MD&A entitled Assumptions on pages 30 to 31, 38, 59, and 64 of BCE’s annual financial report for the year ended December 31, 2024 (BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report) for a discussion of certain key economic, market, operational and other assumptions we have made in preparing forward-looking statements. If our assumptions turn out to be inaccurate, actual results or events could be materially different from what we expect.

Important risk factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the previously mentioned forward-looking statements and other forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Information Form include, but are not limited to: the negative effect of adverse economic conditions, including trade wars resulting from the imposition of U.S. tariffs on imports from Canada and retaliatory tariffs by the Canadian government on goods coming from the U.S., recessions, reductions in immigration levels, high housing support costs relative to income, and financial and capital market

volatility, and the resulting negative impact on customer spending and the demand for our products and services; the negative effect of adverse conditions associated with geopolitical events; the intensity of competitive activity and the failure to effectively respond to evolving competitive dynamics; the level of technological substitution and the presence of alternative service providers contributing to disruptions and disintermediation in each of our business segments; changing customer behaviour and the expansion of cloud-based, over-the-top (OTT) and other alternative solutions; advertising market pressures from economic conditions, fragmentation and non-traditional/global digital services; rising content costs and challenges in our ability to acquire or develop key content; high Canadian Internet and smartphone penetration; regulatory initiatives, proceedings and decisions, government consultations and government positions that negatively affect us and influence our business including, without limitation, concerning mandatory access to networks, spectrum auctions, the imposition of consumer-related codes of conduct, approval of acquisitions, broadcast and spectrum licensing, foreign ownership requirements, privacy and cybersecurity obligations and control of copyright piracy; the inability to implement enhanced compliance frameworks and to comply with legal and regulatory obligations; unfavourable resolution of legal proceedings; the failure to evolve and transform our networks, systems and operations using next-generation technologies while lowering our cost structure, including the failure to meet customer expectations of product and service experience; the inability to drive a positive customer experience; the inability to protect our physical and non-physical assets from events such as information security attacks, unauthorized access or entry, fire and natural disasters; the failure to implement an effective security and data governance framework; the risk that we may need to incur significant capital expenditures to provide additional capacity and reduce network congestion; service interruptions or outages due to network failures or slowdowns; events affecting the functionality of, and our ability to protect, test, maintain, replace and upgrade, our networks, information technology (IT) systems, equipment and other facilities; the failure by other telecommunications carriers on which we rely to provide services to complete planned and sufficient testing, maintenance, replacement or upgrade of their networks, equipment and other facilities, which could disrupt our operations including through network or other infrastructure failures; the complexity of our operations and IT systems and the failure to implement, maintain or manage highly effective processes and IT systems; in-orbit and other operational risks to which the satellites used to provide our satellite television (TV) services are subject; the failure to attract, develop and retain a talented team capable of furthering our strategic imperatives and high-tech transformation; the potential deterioration in employee morale and engagement resulting from staff reductions, cost reductions or reorganizations and the de-prioritization of transformation initiatives due to staff reductions, cost reductions or reorganizations; the failure to adequately manage health and safety concerns; labour disruptions and shortages; the inability to access adequate sources of capital and generate sufficient cash flows from operating activities to meet our cash requirements, fund capital expenditures and provide for planned growth; uncertainty as to whether our dividend payout policy will be maintained or achieved, or that the dividend on common shares will be maintained or dividends on any of BCE’s outstanding shares will be declared by BCE’s board of directors (BCE Board); the failure to reduce costs and adequately assess investment priorities, as well as unexpected increases in costs; the inability to manage various credit, liquidity and market risks; the failure to evolve practices to effectively monitor and control fraudulent activities; new or higher taxes due to new tax laws or changes thereto or in the interpretation thereof, and the inability to predict the outcome of government audits; the impact on our financial statements and estimates from a number of factors; pension obligation volatility and increased contributions to post-employment benefit plans; the expected timing and completion of the proposed disposition of Northwestel are subject to closing conditions, termination rights and other risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the purchaser securing financing and the completion of confirmatory due diligence, which may affect its completion, terms or timing and, as such, there can be no assurance that the proposed disposition will occur, or that it will occur on the terms and conditions, or at the time, currently contemplated, or that the potential benefits expected to result from the proposed disposition will be realized; the expected timing and completion of the proposed disposition of BCE’s ownership stake in MLSE and the planned access by Bell Media to content rights for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors for the next 20 years through a long-term agreement with Rogers Communications Inc. (Rogers) are subject to closing conditions, termination rights and other risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, relevant sports league and other customary approvals, which may affect its completion, terms or timing, and the intended use of proceeds by BCE from the proposed disposition may vary based on timing of closing of the disposition and other factors and, as such, there can be no assurance that the proposed disposition, the anticipated use of proceeds and the potential benefits expected to result from the proposed disposition will occur or be realized, or that they will occur or be realized on the terms and conditions, or at the time, currently contemplated; the expected timing and completion of the proposed acquisition of Ziply Fiber are subject to customary closing conditions, termination rights and other risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, relevant regulatory approvals, such as approval by the Federal Communications Commission and approvals by state Public Utilities Commissions, which may affect its completion, terms or timing and, as such, there can be no assurance that the proposed acquisition will occur, or that it will occur on the terms and conditions, or at the time, currently contemplated, or that the potential benefits expected to result from the proposed

acquisition will be realized; reputational risks and the inability to meaningfully integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into our business strategy, operations and governance; the adverse impact of various internal and external factors on our ability to achieve our ESG targets, including, without limitation, those related to greenhouse gas emissions reduction; the failure to take appropriate actions to adapt to current and emerging environmental impacts, including climate change; the failure to develop and implement sufficient corporate governance practices; the inability to adequately manage social issues; health risks, including pandemics, epidemics and other health concerns, such as radio frequency emissions from wireless communications devices and equipment; our dependence on third-party suppliers, outsourcers and consultants to provide an uninterrupted supply of the products and services we need; the failure of our vendor selection, governance and oversight processes, including our management of supplier risk in the areas of security, data governance and responsible procurement; the quality of our products and services and the extent to which they may be subject to defects or fail to comply with applicable government regulations and standards.

These and other risk factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from our expectations expressed in, or implied by, our forward-looking statements are discussed in this Annual Information Form and the BCE 2024 MD&A and, in particular, in section 9, Business risks of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on pages 88 to 99, of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

Forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Information Form for periods beyond 2025 involve longer-term assumptions and estimates than forward-looking statements for 2025 and are consequently subject to greater uncertainty. Forward-looking statements for periods beyond 2025 further assume, unless otherwise indicated, that the risks described above and in section 9, Business risks of the BCE 2024 MD&A will remain substantially unchanged during such periods.

We caution readers that the risks described above are not the only ones that could affect us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, financial results or reputation. We regularly consider potential acquisitions, dispositions, mergers, business combinations, investments, monetizations, joint ventures and other transactions, some of which may be significant. Except as otherwise indicated by us, forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any such transactions or of special items that may be announced or that may occur after March 6, 2025. The financial impact of these transactions and special items can be complex and depends on facts particular to each of them. We therefore cannot describe the expected impact in a meaningful way or in the same way we present known risks affecting our business.

BCE Inc. was incorporated in 1970 and was continued under the Canada Business Corporations Act in 1979. It is governed by a certificate and articles of amalgamation dated August 1, 2004, as amended by: (a) a certificate and articles of arrangement dated July 10, 2006 to implement a plan of arrangement providing for the distribution by BCE Inc. to its shareholders of units in the Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund and to consolidate outstanding BCE Inc. common shares; (b) a certificate and articles of amendment dated January 25, 2007 to implement a plan of arrangement providing for the exchange of Bell Canada preferred shares for BCE Inc. preferred shares; (c) a certificate and articles of amendment dated June 29, 2011 to create two additional series of BCE Inc. Cumulative Redeemable First Preferred Shares (first preferred shares); and (d) certificates and articles of amendment dated September 22, 2014 and November 11, 2014 to create six additional series of BCE Inc. first preferred shares. BCE Inc.’s head and registered offices are located at 1, Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell, Building A, Verdun, Québec H3E 3B3.

The table below shows BCE Inc.’s main subsidiaries at December 31, 2024, which are all incorporated in Canada, and the percentage of voting securities that BCE Inc. directly or indirectly held in such subsidiaries on that date. BCE Inc. has other subsidiaries that have not been included in the table since each represented 10% or less of our total consolidated assets and 10% or less of our total consolidated operating revenues at December 31, 2024. These other subsidiaries together represented 20% or less of our total consolidated assets and 20% or less of our total consolidated operating revenues at December 31, 2024.

This section contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements relating to our anticipated capital expenditures and network deployment plans, our transformation initiatives and the benefits expected to result therefrom, the successful development and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, either by us or pursuant to certain partnerships entered into by BCE, our proposed acquisitions and dispositions, and our business outlook, objectives, plans and strategic priorities. Refer to section 1, Caution regarding forward-looking statements in this Annual Information Form.

BCE is Canada’s largest communications company,(1) providing residential, business and wholesale customers with a wide range of solutions for all their communications needs.

Our results are reported in two segments: Bell Communication and Technology Services (Bell CTS) and Bell Media.

Bell CTS provides a wide range of communication products and services to consumer, business and government customers across Canada. Wireless products and services include mobile data and voice plans, streaming services, and devices and are available nationally. Wireline products and services comprise data (including Internet access, Internet protocol television (IPTV), cloud-based services and business solutions), voice, and other communication services and products, which are available to our residential, small and medium-sized business and large enterprise customers primarily in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba, while satellite TV service and connectivity to business customers are available nationally across Canada. In addition, this segment includes our wholesale business, which buys and sells local telephone, long distance, data and other services from or to resellers and other carriers as well as the results of operations of our national consumer electronics retailer, The Source (Bell) Electronics Inc. (The Source). In 2024, Bell Canada announced a strategic partnership with Best Buy Canada to operate 167 The Source consumer electronics retail stores in Canada, which have been rebranded as Best Buy Express and offer the latest in consumer electronics from Best Buy along with exclusive telecommunications services from Bell.

Our Bell Media segment provides a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home (OOH) advertising, and digital media to customers nationally across Canada. Revenues are derived primarily from advertising and subscriber fees.

Additional information regarding our business operations and the products and services we provide can be found in section 1.2, About BCE of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on pages 13 to 16 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report. Additional information regarding the business outlook of our Bell CTS and Bell Media segments can be found in the sections entitled Business outlook and assumptions of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on pages 58 to 59, and 64 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

In addition to our operating segments, we also hold investments in a number of other assets, including:

A discussion of the key transactions completed by BCE since 2022 can be found in section 4.1, Transactions of this Annual Information Form.

For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, we generated consolidated operating revenues of $24,409 million and $24,673 million, respectively, and consolidated net earnings of $375 million and $2,327 million, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2024, Bell CTS’ operating revenues totaled $21,619 million ($21,592 million external revenues) and Bell Media’s operating revenues totaled $3,151 million ($2,817 million external revenues). For the year ended December 31, 2023, Bell CTS’ operating revenues totaled $21,926 million ($21,897 million external revenues) and Bell Media’s operating revenues totaled $3,117 million ($2,776 million external revenues). A table showing the operating revenues that each segment contributed to total operating revenues for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 can be found in section 4.3, Operating revenues of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on page 45 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report. A table showing the operating revenues of our Bell CTS segment

by category of products and services can be found in section 5.1, Bell CTS of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on page 53 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

Some of our segments’ revenues vary slightly by season. For more information, refer to section 7.2, Quarterly financial information – Seasonality considerations of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on page 81 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

BCE’s purpose is to advance how Canadians connect with each other and the world. Our strategy builds on our long-standing strengths in networks, service innovation and content creation, and positions the company for continued growth and innovation leadership. Our primary business objectives are to grow our subscriber base profitably and to maximize revenues, operating profit, free cash flow and return on invested capital by further enhancing our position as the foremost provider in Canada of comprehensive communications services to residential, business and wholesale customers, and as Canada’s leading media and entertainment company. We seek to take advantage of opportunities to leverage our networks, infrastructure, sales channels, and brand and marketing resources across our various lines of business to create value for our customers and other stakeholders.

Our strategy is centred on our disciplined focus and execution of six strategic imperatives that position us to deliver continued success in a fast-changing communications marketplace. The six strategic imperatives that underlie BCE’s business plan are:

Build the best networks		Drive growth with innovative services		Deliver the most compelling content
Champion customer experience		Operate with agility and cost efficiency		Engage and invest in our people and create a sustainable future

Additional information regarding our strategic imperatives can be found in section 2, Strategic imperatives of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on pages 32 to 36 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

We are continuing our journey to modernize our operations, increase productivity, build tech talent and materially right-size our cost base.

Innovation is driving customer expectations for enhanced user experiences, improved customer service, and faster market responses, all of which are improved by our operational transformation.

Our transformation reinforces a customer-first approach and specifically sets out to deliver incremental value to our customers as indicated in the following examples:

Canada’s largest communications company

We are Canada’s largest communications company(1), providing residential, business and wholesale customers with a wide range of solutions for all their communications needs, as described below:

Our large customer base, our wireline and wireless network reach, and our ability to sell through a variety of distribution channels, as discussed in more detail in section 3.5, Marketing and distribution channels in this Annual Information Form, give us scale that supports the execution of our six strategic imperatives. With a wireless network service footprint that encompasses more than 99% of Canada’s population, a coast-to-coast national fibre transport network and a local exchange carrier footprint from Manitoba to the Atlantic provinces, BCE is well positioned to take advantage of integrated wireless and wireline solutions in the future.

Technologically advanced wireless networks and services

Through our Bell CTS segment, we provide wireless services over technologically advanced wireless networks that are available to virtually all Canadians. We offer a broad range of wireless voice and data communication products and services to residential and business customers through our Bell brand, as well as our Virgin Plus and Lucky Mobile brands, which enhance our competitive market position by allowing us to compete more effectively with the Canadian industry’s other discount brands, as well as regional facilities-based wireless service providers.

We are focused on maintaining our market share of national operators’ postpaid mobile phone net customer activations, growing our prepaid mobile phone subscriber base, improving sales execution and customer retention, and introducing new devices and data services. We also believe our priorities for improved customer experience at all touch points, enhanced network quality and performance driven by effective spectrum deployment and carrier aggregation that support bandwidth and speeds, as well as a broad device offering, should continue to improve our ability to attract and retain wireless customers. With our fifth-generation (5G) and 5G+ wireless networks, fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) wireless network, LTE Advanced (LTE-A) network and

our high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+) network, we are able to offer one of the broadest ranges of choice in wireless smartphones in Canada, along with extensive North American and international coverage. Bell also offers a LTE, Category M1 (LTE-M) network, which is a subset of our LTE network supporting low-power Internet of Things (IoT) applications with enhanced coverage, longer device battery life and enabling lower costs for IoT devices connecting to Bell’s national network.

Through our 5G and 5G+ wireless service, Bell offers enhanced mobile data speeds and the latest 5G and 5G+-capable smartphones. Bell is working with multiple equipment suppliers for its 5G rollout, including Nokia Corporation (Nokia) and Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson). In 2021, Bell acquired significant additional mid-band, flexible-use 3500 megahertz (MHz) wireless spectrum in the auction by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and on May 19, 2023, Bell obtained the right to use, through subordination, certain of Xplore Inc.’s 3500 MHz spectrum licences in Québec after receiving approval from ISED. On November 30, 2023, Bell also announced having secured the right to acquire 939 wireless spectrum licences in the 3800 MHz spectrum auction, covering 1.77 billion MHz per population (MHz-Pop) for $518 million. On May 29, 2024, Bell acquired the 3800 MHz spectrum licences. Essential to Canada’s ongoing transition to 5G communications, these high-capacity airwaves support Bell’s delivery of enhanced 5G digital experiences to Canadian consumers and businesses in urban, rural and remote communities. Refer to section 4.1, Transactions in this Annual Information Form for more details.

Bell’s 5G network covered 87% of Canada’s population at December 31, 2024, a significant increase from the 26% of Canada’s population covered at the end of 2020, attributable in part to our capital expenditure acceleration program, which provided for $1.7 billion in additional network funding in 2021 and 2022, in addition to the approximately $4 billion that Bell typically spent each year in network expansion and enhancement prior to 2020. This $1.7 billion in accelerated capital expenditures advanced the rollout of our broadband fibre, 5G wireless and rural networks and helped drive Canada’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Bell launched its 5G+ network, a faster and more responsive service allowing for a superior mobile experience, and which covered 60% of Canada’s population at December 31, 2024. Refer to section 3.6, Networks – Wireless in this Annual Information Form for more details concerning our wireless networks.

Bell’s 5G and 5G+ networks were ranked the fastest and best 5G in Canada by Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) in its 2024 nationwide assessment of 5G networks(3). This marks the third consecutive year Bell has earned this recognition for its 5G network and the second consecutive year for its 5G+ network.

Advancing 5G and IoT solutions

Bell is working with a range of global and domestic 5G partners, including Ericsson and Nokia, to accelerate Canada’s 5G innovation ecosystem. This includes continued investment in research and development (R&D) at Canadian institutions, such as a partnership between Western University and Bell creating an advanced centre for research into 5G applications across health (including mental health), transportation, education and other sectors. In 2022, Bell also launched a private mobile network at the Centre for Port Innovation, Engagement and Research (The PIER), an innovation hub in Halifax focused on developing innovative solutions for supply chain and logistics in the transportation industry, enabling IoT solutions that help support business-critical functions with real-time data monitoring and reporting, as well as supporting partners as they work to develop commercial opportunities seeking to benefit Canadian and global companies and their customers. On the international stage, Bell is involved in the setting of global 5G standards with our participation in the Next Generation Mobile Networks consortium and Third Generation Partnership Program.

The high capacity and near instant connections offered by 5G support new consumer and business applications, including augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), AI and machine learning, immersive entertainment services, connected vehicles, smart cities and enhanced rural access, and IoT opportunities for business and government enterprises. In January 2023, we announced a partnership with Snap Inc. which introduced the first-ever 5G multi-user augmented reality (AR) basketball experience on Snapchat. Fans with a 5G device in attendance at four Toronto Raptors Welcome Toronto home games in early 2023 could join a shared AR experience where thousands could participate by teaming up and competing against each other, leveraging Snapchat’s AR technology and the speed, latency and bandwidth capabilities of 5G. In time for the start of the 2023-2024 hockey season, the 5G multi-user AR experience was also introduced in Winnipeg at the Canada Life Centre with the Bell 5G Slapshot Challenge AR lens. Jets fans were able to test their slapshot skills against other fans in the stadium to see who could score the most goals.

On September 25, 2023, we announced that Bell, Verizon, Vodafone and independent software vendor Matsuko successfully conducted the first live transatlantic collaborative meeting connecting multiple holographic people in Canada, the U.S. and the United Kingdom using 5G and multi-access edge computing (MEC) technology and Matsuko’s real-time software. Interacting with holograms of humans rather than avatars can provide a more personal experience for many applications such as remote

healthcare, collaborative working and education. The call was enabled by the speed of 5G combined with the quick response times of MEC, which moves the necessary computing closer to the edge of the network. Through its active participation in the 5G Future Forum industry body, Bell continues to support the developer community to access 5G MEC technologies and for their solutions to take advantage of Bell’s 5G network in Canada, and to interoperate globally.

On February 25, 2025, Bell Canada and Nokia announced a significant expansion of their 5G network infrastructure partnership, marking a major step forward in deploying cloud radio access network (RAN) and paving the way for future open RAN advancements. This multi-year contract extension will see Bell deploy Nokia’s commercial cloud RAN solution, built on a foundation of Red Hat OpenShift and supported by Dell Technologies infrastructure. Nokia will supply equipment from its industry-leading, energy-efficient 5G AirScale portfolio to support Bell’s Ccoud RAN deployments, ensuring feature and performance consistency throughout the network evolution. This collaboration leverages the power of cloud RAN to deliver immediate benefits to Bell’s network. The cloud-native architecture, powered by Red Hat OpenShift, provides enhanced scalability and agility, enabling Bell to rapidly adapt its network to meet fluctuating customer demands and swiftly introduce new services. This agility is further enhanced by the deployment of Dell PowerEdge servers at cell sites and data centres, providing the processing power and reliability needed for demanding 5G workloads.

Bell also provides a number of solutions in the IoT sector, which enable the interconnection of a range of devices and applications that send and receive data. Bell further offers global connectivity solutions for our IoT platforms and applications, which offer customers worldwide network access and the ability to manage all of their international devices remotely from a single web platform. Bell’s lineup of innovative IoT applications includes connected telematics services, including security, safety, diagnostics and infotainment for vehicles; fuel tank monitoring and water management solutions; fleet management solutions connecting commercial vehicles to the Internet to provide web-based analytics to manage the fleet; connected laptop solutions, enabling LTE connectivity directly from select LTE-enabled laptops; managed IoT security services that offer businesses, smart cities and other organizations employing IoT solutions a fully managed solution to detect and protect organizations from evolving cyber threats; and new solutions made available in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as real-time occupancy monitoring, digital signage and sanitizer kiosks.

Next-generation high-speed Internet and TV services

Our strategic imperative to build the best networks has included the expansion of our fibre network to more homes and business locations. At December 31, 2024, our fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) footprint covered approximately 7.8 million homes and businesses in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba. Our fibre network enables the delivery of Bell’s next-generation fibre-optic high-speed Internet service marketed as Fibe Internet, offering symmetrical download and upload speeds of up to 3 gigabits per second (Gbps) with FTTP through our Gigabit Fibe 3.0 service, as well as download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) with fibre-to-the node (FTTN). Our network also enables the delivery of our Internet service marketed as Virgin Plus Internet, offering download speeds of up to 1 Gbps. Refer to section 3.6, Networks – Wireline – High-speed fibre deployment in this Annual Information Form for more details concerning the deployment of our fibre-optic high-speed Internet services.

For the fourth consecutive time, the Ookla Q3-Q4 2024 Speedtest Awards have named Bell Pure Fibre Canada’s fastest Internet(4). Bell was also recognized by BrandSpark as Canada’s most trusted Internet provider for Wi-Fi performance/Wi-Fi connectivity for the sixth year in a row, and this year earned Most Trusted awards for TV, cellular and home phone(5).

On July 24, 2024, Bell announced the launch of its new Bell Business Wi-Fi App, designed to empower small businesses in Ontario and Québec with an enhanced Wi-Fi experience that combines improved security, customizable guest Wi-Fi, employee and customer data insights, and simplified network management. The Bell Business Wi-Fi App is available for small business owners in Ontario and Québec with Bell pure fibre Internet.

As Bell extends its direct fibre links in urban and suburban centres, we are also delivering broadband speeds to smaller towns and rural locations with our Wireless Home Internet (WHI) fixed wireless service, which is based on 5G-capable WTTP technology. With the expansion of wireless cell site coverage, deep fibre backhaul and advancements in technology, the cost to provide a fixed wireless solution became viable in rural areas where it is uneconomical to deploy FTTP. In 2021, we completed the buildout of our WHI service in smaller towns and rural communities across Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba, reaching our target of 1 million locations one year ahead of schedule. Bell delivers Wireless Home Internet service with download speeds of up to 50 Mbps and upload speeds of 10 Mbps (50/10) to a majority of customers. In August 2021, an agreement with Casa Systems, Inc.

was announced for the upgrade of a portion of Bell’s WTTP network to 5G to further boost speed and capacity for WHI customers in rural regions, which was completed in June 2023.

Our fibre network also enables the delivery of Bell’s IPTV services, namely Fibe TV, the Fibe TV app and Virgin Plus TV. Bell’s Fibe TV service, built on an IPTV platform, offers a wide range of flexible programming options and innovative features to customers in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba, such as: the Fibe TV wireless receiver, which enables customers to enjoy the Fibe experience on up to 10 additional TVs anywhere in the home (five in Manitoba) without the hassle of running cable through the house; the Restart and Look Back features, enabling customers to rewind and watch TV shows already in progress from the beginning and up to 30 hours after they started; and the Trending feature, which lists the five most-watched shows in both English and French among Fibe TV customers at any given time and allows customers to switch to watch live or restart from the beginning. Fibe TV further allows access to Crave, Netflix, Prime Video and YouTube directly from customer TV receivers, providing a seamless experience.

In 2024, the next generation of Fibe TV was launched in Ontario, Québec and the Atlantic region, leveraging Google Android TV technology with enhanced search capabilities and voice remote. This service offers customers a consistent viewing experience on all screens with the Fibe TV app, including access to more than 500 live TV channels, on-demand content and over 10,000 apps from the Google Play Store, including Crave, Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV and YouTube. Viewers can more easily find the content they want to watch, and explore new and exciting entertainment with a voice remote powered by Google Assistant and intuitive universal search capabilities that will find content across Fibe TV and supported subscribed streaming services. With added cloud personal video recorder (PVR) capabilities, viewers can record an unlimited number of shows simultaneously to watch at their convenience.

The Fibe TV app is available to customers in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba, and brings the rich Fibe TV viewing experience to tablets, smartphones, laptops, Bell Streamer, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast and a variety of Android TV devices, with access to more than 500 live and on-demand channels at home or on the go, which allows customers to seamlessly transfer a channel being viewed from a mobile device to a TV, or resume what is being watched on TV on a mobile device. In addition, Fibe customers can download their personal video recordings with the Fibe TV app to watch on iOS and Android mobile devices without Wi-Fi network access, and customers can pause and rewind live TV on any device with the Fibe TV app.

In addition, we offer the Fibe TV app service in Ontario and Québec as a standalone app-based live TV streaming service that offers live and on-demand programming. With no traditional TV set-top box required, the Fibe TV app offers up to 500 live and on-demand channels on tablets, smartphones, laptops, Bell Streamer, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast and a variety of Android TV devices. The standalone Fibe TV app offers access to two TV streams at a time and customers can add individual channels to build their own packages. Like Bell’s Fibe TV service, the standalone Fibe TV app operates as a licensed broadcast service on the privately managed Bell Fibe broadband network for in-home viewing, and on mobile or Wi-Fi networks outside the home.

Virgin Plus TV is an app-based service that does not require a traditional TV set-top box or installation and that lets members in Ontario and Québec watch live and on-demand TV shows and live sports on any screen they want as it works on virtually all devices – iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, laptops, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Google Chromecast. The Virgin Plus TV app lets members watch two streams at once, pause and rewind live TV, resume on-demand programs where they left off, and track all the top trending shows.

In addition, through Bell Streamer, an all-in-one 4K High Dynamic Range streaming device powered by Android TV, we offer customers in Ontario and Québec all-in-one access to the Fibe TV app, support for all major streaming services and access to thousands of apps on Google Play.

In November 2024, Bell Canada expanded its TV offering with 11 new free, ad-supported television (FAST) channels, available nationwide on the Bell TV and Virgin Plus TV apps. These channels are available with all TV packages and are seamlessly integrated into the customer’s TV guide, appearing alongside their favourite live channels.

Further, on November 4, 2024, BCE announced that Bell Canada had entered into an agreement to acquire Ziply Fiber, the leading fibre Internet provider in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., for approximately $3.65 billion in U.S. dollars (approximately $5 billion in Canadian dollars) in cash and the assumption of outstanding net debt of approximately $1.45 billion in U.S. dollars (approximately $2 billion in Canadian dollars) to be rolled over at transaction close, representing a transaction value of approximately $5.1 billion in U.S. dollars (approximately $7 billion in Canadian dollars). This strategic acquisition is expected to grow Bell’s position as North America’s third largest fibre internet provider. Together, Bell Canada and Ziply Fiber have a goal to reach approximately 12 million fiber locations in North America by the end of 2028. This is expected to accelerate subscriber, revenue and EBITDA growth for Bell. The transaction is subject to certain customary closing conditions and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals, including the

Federal Communications Commission, and approvals by state Public Utilities Commissions. The proposed acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025. Refer to section 4.1, Transactions in this Annual Information Form for more details.

Our strong position in broadband Internet and TV and our broad suite of product offerings serve as a foundation for the other products and services we offer. This provides us with a significant number of established customer connections to drive uptake of new products and services, either through bundled offerings or on a standalone basis, and allows us to improve customer retention. In addition, our team continues to deliver network-centric business service solutions to large business and public sector clients, including cloud, security and workflow automation solutions, which are key to business communications today and increase the value of connectivity services.

Innovation in communications technology

Technological advancement plays a significant role in the success of our business. We invest in Canadian innovation and have spent $573 million in R&D capital expenditures in 2024. Our investments in R&D enable us to continue providing our customers with innovative products and services and to adopt new technologies that better support our own operations and our strategic imperatives to champion the customer experience and drive growth with innovative services. Our deployment of new and innovative networks and services is a direct result of our investment in R&D.

Over the past decades, Bell has invested in developing data analytics capabilities and AI applications in multiple areas of its operations. Providing advanced technological solutions allows us to better differentiate our product and service offerings and to seek to provide greater value to our customers. As part of Bell’s objective to remain at the forefront of technology and innovation in communications services, and encourage the development of, and expertise in, new emerging technologies in Canada, we partner with a range of global and domestic organizations.

In 2022, we announced a five-year strategic engagement with the Vector Institute, an independent, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to research in the field of AI, and announced a three-year strategic partnership with Montréal innovation centre Centech to provide tech entrepreneurs with access to the latest in Bell 5G, IoT and MEC technologies.

Bell also introduced Bell Ventures in 2022, its corporate venture capital initiative to encourage development of early-stage and growth companies that harness the power of Bell’s networks to drive growth and adoption of advanced technological solutions. Building on Bell’s history of innovation and investments, Bell Ventures is a natural extension of Bell’s purpose to advance how Canadians connect with each other and the world. Bell Ventures invests in early-stage and growth companies that provide advanced technology solutions seeking to further differentiate Bell’s 5G and fibre networks and deliver solutions for its customers, including in the areas of network, security, IoT, robotics, telematics, clean technology, data monetization and AI.

Since 2022, we have also announced a number of significant milestones in our strategic cloud and technology partnerships. In February 2022, Bell announced its deployment of Google Distributed Cloud Edge in its network, enabling more efficiency, reliability and scale while also driving new business opportunities. This is the world’s first implementation of core network functions on Google Distributed Cloud Edge, a fully managed product that brings Google Cloud’s infrastructure and services closer to where data is being generated and consumed. This advancement builds on Bell and Google Cloud’s strategic partnership, announced in 2021, to combine Bell’s 5G network leadership with Google Cloud’s expertise in multi-cloud, data analytics and AI, and to enable Bell to drive operational efficiencies and deliver richer customer experiences. On February 26, 2025, Bell Canada announced its network AI Ops solution built on Google Cloud, which has been successfully deployed and is already revolutionizing how it detects, analyzes, and presents network issues. This AI-driven approach has significantly improved Bell’s mean time to resolution, enabling proactive network management that enhances reliability and optimizes the customer experience. In addition, in 2023, Bell announced the launch of the first public MEC with AWS Wavelength in Canada. Building on Bell’s agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS), announced in 2021, together the two companies are deploying AWS Wavelength Zones throughout the country at the edge of Bell’s 5G network, starting in Toronto. Bell Public MEC with AWS Wavelength embeds AWS compute and storage services at the edge of the Bell 5G network, closer to mobile and connected devices where data is generated and consumed. This enables software developers and businesses to take full advantage of the high speed and low latency of Bell’s 5G network and the cloud with AWS to build innovative, low-latency solutions that leverage real-time visual data processing, AR/VR, AI and machine learning, advanced robotics and much more.

On March 29, 2023, Bell announced a partnership with Palo Alto Networks to better support Canadian businesses managing their cloud security with the launch of two new cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) solutions, Cloud Security Posture Assessment and Cloud Security Posture Protection. These cybersecurity solutions identify threats to enterprise data in the cloud and provide managed services to protect data across complex hybrid, multi-cloud environments. On December 12, 2024, Bell announced a strategic partnership with Palo Alto Networks that brings together Bell’s expertise in managed and professional

services with Palo Alto Networks’ industry-leading, AI-powered cybersecurity platforms. Building upon the customer success and service development initiatives launched in 2023, Bell will offer a full suite of services across Palo Alto Networks’ three platforms, delivering comprehensive protection against evolving cyber threats for customers in Canada.

In addition, on June 1, 2023, Bell acquired FX Innovation, a Montréal-based provider of cloud-focused managed and professional services and workflow automation solutions for business clients. This acquisition combines FX Innovation’s agility, start-up culture, and cloud services expertise with Bell’s next-generation fibre and 5G networks, resources, and scale to deliver leading-edge technology solutions for Canadian businesses. The acquisition aims to position Bell as a technology services leader for our enterprise customers. On November 29, 2023, Bell and ServiceNow, a digital workflow company, announced a collaboration to launch Service Bridge capabilities on the ServiceNow platform, leveraging FX Innovation’s deep industry expertise to elevate the end-to-end experience for Bell customers with customized solutions and automation capabilities. On July 18, 2024, Bell and ServiceNow announced a multi-year strategic agreement to accelerate Bell’s transformation to meet the growing customer demand for tech services and digital media. The renewed commitment makes Bell one of ServiceNow’s largest communications customers with a first-of-its-kind collaboration in Canada. Bell will expand its use of the ServiceNow platform, supporting its own digital transformation while continuing to offer ServiceNow implementation expertise to support the digital transformation of its Bell Business Markets customers. On October 9, 2024, Bell announced the acquisition by FX Innovation of HGC Technologies (HGC), an Elite ServiceNow partner. HGC strengthens FX Innovation’s expertise in process automation, cloud technologies, and digital transformation, bringing strengths in business application development, HR and customer service delivery, and a strong North American talent base to support growth. HGC’s existing U.S. customer base aligns with FX Innovation’s strategic plans for expansion into the U.S. market, providing immediate access to a new and growing customer segment.

On February 1, 2024, Bell announced a partnership with SentinelOne, Inc. (SentinelOne), a global leader in AI-powered security, to provide extensive data protection services for Bell’s enterprise customers.

On February 2, 2024, Bell announced an 18-month collaborative project with Mila, a research institute in AI, to apply deep learning neural network algorithms to Bell’s systems and data. Mila researchers will work alongside Bell’s Machine Learning and AI teams to build on Bell’s previous investments by using deep learning neural network techniques to identify opportunities to improve business performance and customer experience. By advancing its understanding of deep learning AI techniques, Bell seeks to continue to enhance its customer experience and accelerate its operational transformation.

On February 6, 2024, Bell announced a collaboration with Microsoft to expand its hybrid work solutions to help Canadian enterprises modernize their communications platforms with the launch of Bell Operator Connect, pairing Bell’s high-quality voice network and Microsoft Teams. Bell is also advancing its company-wide digital transformation and workforce modernization in selecting Microsoft 365 as its cloud collaboration solution. On November 19, 2024, Bell expanded its collaboration with Microsoft by launching services for Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile to offer Canadian businesses a flexible, secure, high-performance communication solution. This innovative mobile-first solution integrates mobile numbers with Teams, enabling seamless calling and collaboration. Teams Phone Mobile provides a consistent user experience, simplifying business communication and boosting productivity and efficiency.

On April 9, 2024, Bell announced the availability of Google Cloud Contact Center AI (CCAI) from Bell for Canadian businesses – the first fully AI solution for Bell enterprise and mid-market customers. Google Cloud’s CCAI from Bell is a managed solution supported by professional services expertise that enables intelligent customer and agent experience leveraging generative AI-infused technology. Providing rich conversational experiences and analytics, Google CCAI from Bell offers scalability and flexibility that can be added to existing contact centre environments and to cloud contact centres of any size.

On June 13, 2024, Bell and Mila, the world’s largest academic research centre for deep learning, announced a new partnership to develop cutting-edge AI solutions, building on the 18-month collaborative project Mila and Bell entered into earlier in 2024 to apply deep learning neural network algorithms to Bell’s environment. This collaboration is driven by a shared vision to enhance customer experience, optimize business operations and cultivate a vibrant AI ecosystem within Québec and across Canada. In line with Bell’s significant investments in AI, this partnership reinforces Bell’s business transformation, harnessing Mila’s groundbreaking research to drive transformative improvements across Bell’s operations. From data analysis and operational efficiency to Internet-based applications, Mila’s expertise will accelerate advancements that will enhance the customer experience.

On July 9, 2024, Bell announced that it had acquired technical services companies Stratejm and CloudKettle Inc., adding professional and managed services expertise in cybersecurity and Salesforce digital workflow automation to its existing capabilities. These acquisitions will advance Bell’s strategy to be the leader in supporting medium and large organizations’ digital transformations and automation through cloud services. Combined with Bell’s pure fibre and 5G networks, enterprises will benefit from an exceptional and seamless AI-powered end-to-end customer experience.

On July 25, 2024, Bell and Hyundai Motor Group (Hyundai) announced a multi-year extension of our strategic partnership to provide Canadian customers with advanced in-car connected infotainment services, raising the bar for in-vehicle experiences. Through Bell’s IoT connectivity, Hyundai, Kia and Genesis customers in Canada will benefit from fast and reliable access to infotainment features, with the partnership also exploring additional services such as over-the-air software updates, music/video streaming, casual gaming and eventually Wi-Fi hotspots, providing seamless connectivity on the go.

On September 17, 2024, Bell and MacLean, the world’s largest Canadian-based manufacturer of underground mining equipment, announced a technology collaboration to better support the evolving needs of mining customers. The innovations being introduced will improve equipment interoperability - the way in which machines exchange and make use of information - enhancing safety for workers and driving sustainable practices and reduced vehicle emissions.

On October 8, 2024, Ax-C, a new hub for innovative entrepreneurship set to open in 2025, announced a multi-year partnership with Bell, Google, Desjardins, and the Fonds de solidarité FTQ, representing a combined financial contribution of $5.25 million. This strategic private sector partnership will build a strong and dynamic ecosystem dedicated to the growth of startups in Québec.

Our significant media assets

Bell Media’s range of video and audio content enhances the execution of our strategic imperatives by leveraging our significant network investments, delivering compelling content across all screens and platforms, and enabling us to maximize strategic and operating synergies, including the efficiency of our content and advertising spend.

Bell Media’s assets in video, audio, OOH and digital platforms are a key competitive advantage, as described below:

Our competitive strengths also include our broad reach across Canada, our ability to deliver top programming for conventional, specialty and DTC and streaming services, our constant drive to provide the most engaging and interactive experience for viewers, and our ability to serve the needs of advertisers across multiple platforms.

Refer to section 2.3, Deliver the most compelling content of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on page 34 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report, for a description of certain agreements entered into and initiatives launched in 2024 by Bell Media.

3.5  Marketing and distribution channels

Bell CTS

The guiding principle driving our marketing strategy is to offer our clients the ultimate in reliable, simple and accessible communications services. In doing so, our objective is to increase customer acquisition, retention and loyalty through multiple service offerings.

Through the bundling of services, which combines wireline local voice and long distance, high-speed Internet, TV and smart home, as well as wireless services, our goal is to use a multi-product offering to achieve competitive differentiation by offering a premium, integrated set of services that provides customers with more freedom, flexibility and choice. We also make use of limited-time promotional offers featuring discounted rate plans, special rates on wireless handsets and TV receivers, as well as other incentives, to stimulate new customer acquisition and retain existing customers or to respond to competitive actions in our markets.

We focus our marketing efforts on a coordinated program of video, print, audio, Internet, outdoor signage, direct mail and point-of-sale media promotions. We engage in mass market advertising in order to maintain our brand and support direct and indirect distribution channels. Coordinated marketing efforts throughout our service area ensure that our marketing message is presented consistently across all our markets. Promoting the Bell brand is complemented by our other brand marketing efforts, reinforcing awareness of all our services and capitalizing on the size and breadth of our customer base across all product lines.

The Bell brands play a key role in product positioning. Our branding is straightforward and directly supports our strategy of delivering a better customer experience at every level. In July 2021, Virgin Mobile Canada officially rebranded to Virgin Plus, a new name and a new identity that reflect the company’s evolving service offerings beyond mobility. In addition, on July 25, 2023, Virgin Plus unveiled a fresh new look with more affordable service offerings, along with a new brand campaign and updated member benefits. The service offerings include the introduction of unlimited nationwide rate plans and access to 5G at an affordable price with no zones for members across Canada. These new offerings join the lineup of Virgin Plus service offerings, including high-speed Internet and app-based TV service for members in Ontario and Québec.

Acquiring and retaining wireless subscribers is a key marketing objective that we seek to achieve through our networks and suite of leading-edge devices and services to drive higher usage and increased adoption of data services. We offer unlimited plans featuring unlimited data access with no overage charges. We also offer SmartPay device financing plans that let Bell Mobility customers buy their new smartphones with 24 interest-free installments separate from their service plan, and we similarly offer Sweet Pay device financing plans for Virgin Plus customers. In addition, we offer Connect Everything plans that provide a way to link all of a customer’s Bell devices with a pool of data to share across smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and other devices, such as wireless trackers, security cameras and vehicles with Bell Connected Car. In January 2022, we introduced mobile unlimited Ultimate plans to make the most of 5G with more data at maximum speeds, international messaging, high-definition video quality and hotspot capability. We also continue to offer discounts on the price of wireless handsets in exchange for a contractual commitment from a subscriber, a practice also used by other Canadian wireless operators. As the Canadian wireless market further matures and competition intensifies, customer retention is increasingly important. Accordingly, we employ customer retention initiatives aimed at increasing our customers’ level of satisfaction and loyalty.

We also offer eligible customers the convenience of One Bill for Internet, TV, home phone, wireless and smart home services. We deliver our products and services to residential wireless and wireline customers through:

On January 31, 2023, Bell and Staples Canada ULC (Staples) announced a multi-year exclusive agreement to sell Bell, Virgin Plus and Lucky Mobile wireless and wireline services through Staples stores across Canada for consumers and small businesses. In addition, Bell and Staples partner to sell Bell wireless and wireline services direct to medium-sized businesses through the Staples Professional sales team, backed by Bell’s advanced communications expertise.

On May 3, 2023, Bell announced a multi-year strategic agreement with Air Canada, which includes premier sponsorship of its free in-flight messaging for Aeroplan members and the distribution of complimentary subscriber identity module (SIM) cards on board to enable newcomers and visitors arriving in Canada to activate a wireless SIM while still in the air.

In 2024, Bell Canada announced a strategic partnership with Best Buy Canada to operate 167 The Source consumer electronics retail stores in Canada, which have been rebranded as Best Buy Express and offer the latest in consumer electronics from Best Buy along with exclusive telecommunications services from Bell. The first Best Buy Express was opened in Guildford Town Centre, Surrey, British Columbia on June 26, 2024. In addition, in 2024, Bell wound down The Source head office and back office operations, as well as closed the remaining 107 The Source stores.

On January 8, 2025, Bell and Corus Entertainment announced the expansion of a strategic, multi-year agreement for Corus networks to be distributed on Bell Fibe TV and Bell Satellite TV, including Corus’ premier lifestyle networks, Flavour Network and Home Network.

For small and medium-sized business customers, our small and medium business team offers a wide range of wireline and wireless services, including Business Fibe Internet, Bell Total Connect, Business Phone and TV, and IoT solutions, along with many other communications solutions, all designed for companies. All solutions are sold through dedicated call centre representatives and our bell.ca website, as well as our retail network and door-to-door sales representatives.

Communications solutions for large enterprise customers, including our wireless services, are delivered by our business markets team, and our products and services are sold through dedicated sales representatives, certified resellers and competitive bids. By combining products and services, including professional services, into fully managed, end-to-end information and technology solutions, we have been successful in providing large enterprise customers with complex communications products and services. We continue to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace by enhancing our customer service levels and offering solutions designed to provide superior service, performance, availability and security. We deliver expertise in key solution areas, including Internet, private networks, voice and unified communications, cloud solutions, security solutions, cloud-based contact centre, IoT and MEC.

Our wholesale business communications products and services are delivered by our wholesale team. They are sold through our dedicated sales representatives, web portals and call centres.

Bell Media

Bell Media’s video, OOH and digital advertising customer base is comprised of large advertising agencies, which place advertisements with Bell Media on behalf of their customers, and advertisers who buy directly. Bell Media also has contracts with a variety of distribution partners, under which subscription fees for TV and video products are earned. Bell Media’s radio broadcast customer base is comprised of both advertising agencies and businesses in local markets.

Bell Media’s radio, TV and video products are delivered to Canadians through a combination of over-the-air broadcast transmission, partnerships with traditional and digital distributors, and Bell Media’s own digital platforms.

Crave is available through participating TV providers across Canada, which provide the added opportunity to access the Crave linear channels on traditional set-top boxes, as well as via on-demand channels, through the Crave app, Crave.ca and on Amazon’s

Prime Video Channels. TSN and RDS are also available directly via the Internet through each brand’s official website, the app and on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels in Canada. Crave can be streamed on the web and through partner platforms such as iOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Bell Streamer, Chromecast, Roku, Samsung, LG, Hisense, Sony PlayStation and Xbox One. Finally, Bell Media’s OOH business delivers its services through an inventory of OOH faces and street furniture equipment in key urban cities across the country.

On February 6, 2024, Bell Media announced that it had reached an agreement with Amazon to make its best-in-class streaming service, Crave, available on Prime Video Channels in Canada.

In April 2024, Bell Media announced the launch of FAST channels, featuring a wide variety of content in English and French. Currently, Bell Media offers 11 FAST channels across major platforms, including Bell TV, Roku, LG Channels, Samsung TV Plus, and more.

On June 7, 2024, Bell Media completed the acquisition of OUTFRONT Media Inc.’s Canadian out-of-home media business, OUTEDGE,

On September 6, 2024, Bell Media announced that its TSN service was available on Prime Video Channels in Canada, and on October 29, 2024, RDS was also made available on Prime Video Channels in Canada.

On October 8, 2024, Bell Media announced that it has expanded its landmark partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery for the Canadian market, extending Crave for multiple years as the exclusive home of HBO and Max content. The expansion of Bell Media’s existing licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, announced in 2023, ensures Crave subscribers have continued access to a vast library of premium content for the foreseeable future. The new agreement also includes a co-production commitment for original Canadian content with global appeal, licensing of Bell Media original content for use on Warner Bros. Discovery platforms outside of Canada, and extended access to French-language content for use on Bell Media platforms.

On October 17, 2024, Bell Media announced a major content and licensing agreement with NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution. This agreement rebranded its specialty channels, Discovery and Investigation Discovery, as USA Network and Oxygen True Crime, respectively, as of January 1, 2025. A selection of popular shows from both channels also became available for streaming on Crave. Also on January 1, existing specialty channels Animal Planet, Discovery Science and Discovery Velocity, rebranded to CTV Wild, CTV Nature and CTV Speed, respectively, completing the revitalization of Bell Media’s suite of Discovery channels.

On November 19, 2024, StackAdapt, a leading multi-channel advertising platform, and Bell Media announced a partnership to enable Bell Media’s premium inventory across connected TV (CTV), display, video, audio, and digital out-of-home channels through StackAdapt’s platform. This collaboration offers agencies and brands unmatched reach and precision in digital advertising in Canada, backed by two of the country’s foremost programmatic leaders.

On December 18, 2024, Bell Media announced that it has partnered with Shopsense AI, the leader in shoppable TV technology, to bring innovative second-screen shopping experiences to millions of Canadian viewers. This collaboration marks Shopsense’s first expansion outside of the U.S. and the first integration of its powerful Commerce OS into Canadian entertainment programming. The partnership has debuted on CTV’s popular daily shows THE GOOD STUFF WITH MARY BERG and ETALK.

On December 18, 2024, Bell Media announced that it has entered into an agreement with Point Grey Pictures to develop and produce an original scripted television series from Point Grey and Lionsgate. The agreement was made through Lionsgate’s first-look television deal with Point Grey. As a company with roots in Canada, Point Grey will enhance its presence in the country through this agreement by producing its first scripted show for the Canadian market.

On January 16, 2025, NASCAR announced multiple media rights deals that bolster its presence in Canada, the sport’s largest international market, highlighted by the expansion of its decades-long partnership with Bell Media. For the first time, Bell Media will be Canada’s home for all three NASCAR national series as it adds NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series programming to its long-standing NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series rights.

On January 17, 2025, Bell Media announced new bundle subscription options for Crave, TSN and RDS. The Ultimate Entertainment and Sports Bundle includes Crave and TSN for English-language programming and Crave and RDS for French-language programming.

On January 27, 2025, Bell Media and PAGEBOY Productions, founded by acclaimed actor, producer, and advocate Elliot Page, announced a new partnership to develop bold, original scripted series for Crave and CTV. Under this agreement, their collaboration will explore content opportunities, with a joint dedication to spotlighting untold stories.

3.6  Networks

The telecommunications industry is evolving rapidly as it continues to move from multiple service-specific networks to Internet protocol (IP)-based integrated communications networks that can carry voice, data and video traffic. We continue to work with key vendor partners to expand our national multi-service IP-enabled networks.

Our communications networks provide wireless and wireline voice, data and video services to customers across Canada. Our infrastructure includes:

Wireless

To provide wireless connectivity, we have deployed and operate a number of nationwide wireless broadband networks compatible with global standards that deliver high-quality and reliable voice and high-speed data services. With our high-speed data network, we are able to offer Canadian consumers a broad range of choice in wireless smartphones, as well as touch screen tablets, IoT devices and other devices designed for data services such as video and audio streaming, IoT communications, e-mail, messaging, Internet access and social networking. We also support international roaming in over 230 destinations, with LTE roaming in 213 destinations and 5G roaming in 106 destinations.

HSPA+ network

Our wireless HSPA+ network offered high-speed mobile access to 99% of Canada’s population at December 31, 2024, covering thousands of cities and towns in both urban and rural locations. The HSPA+ network supports global roaming, as well as a wide range of smartphones, data cards, universal serial bus (USB) sticks, tablets and other leading-edge mobile devices. The vast majority of the site connectivity for the HSPA+ network was built with high-speed fibre and an all-IP architecture for enhanced reliability.

4G LTE network

With Bell’s 4G LTE wireless network coverage, customers have data access speeds similar to those of broadband connections and significantly faster than our HSPA+ network, making it easier for users to download applications, stream high-definition videos and music, play online games, or videoconference and chat with virtually no delays or buffering. The HSPA+ and LTE networks work together such that most Bell LTE devices support both networks.

Our LTE wireless network reached more than 99% of Canada’s population at December 31, 2024 with theoretical peak download speeds of up to 150 Mbps, and expected average download speeds of 18 to 40 Mbps.

LTE-A network

With Dual-band LTE-A technology, Bell generally delivers theoretical peak download speeds of up to 260 Mbps (expected average download speeds of 18 to 74 Mbps). By assigning three radio channels or carriers to one user, we generally deliver, with Tri-band LTE-A technology, theoretical mobile data peak download speeds of up to 335 Mbps (expected average download speeds of 25 to 100 Mbps). With the addition of multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) technologies and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), we can deliver in certain areas theoretical peak download speeds of up to 800 Mbps with Dual-band LTE-A technology and 1.2 Gbps with Tri-band LTE-A technology.

Bell’s LTE network is also capable of delivering Quad-band LTE-A service. Quad-band technology leverages four bands of wireless spectrum to boost LTE-A speeds to the gigabit level. In addition to employing a combination of carrier aggregation, Bell also uses 256 QAM and 4X4 MIMO technologies to increase spectrum efficiency and multiply capacity. Bell’s enhanced Gigabit LTE-A network is available in select cities across Canada. Quad-band LTE-A now offers theoretical mobile data peak download speeds of up to 1.5 Gbps in markets across Canada (expected average download speeds of 25 to 325 Mbps).

At December 31, 2024, we provided LTE-A network service to 96% of the population in Canada, and provided Quad-band LTE-A service to over 46% of the population in Canada.

LTE-M network

Our LTE-M network is a subset of our LTE network supporting low-power IoT applications with enhanced coverage, longer device battery life, and enabling lower costs for IoT devices connecting to Bell’s national network. An expanded reciprocal roaming partnership with AT&T Inc. (AT&T) provides Bell Canadian business customers with access to AT&T’s LTE-M network across the U.S.

and also enables AT&T’s customers to roam on Bell’s national LTE-M network in Canada. Our LTE-M network is available in most Canadian provinces.

5G network

Our 5G wireless network enables us to offer enhanced mobile data speeds and the latest 5G-capable smartphones. The high capacity and near instant connections offered by mobile 5G will support new consumer and business applications, including AR/VR, AI and machine learning, immersive entertainment services, connected vehicles, smart cities and enhanced rural access, and IoT opportunities for business and government enterprises. In 2021, Bell acquired significant additional mid-band, flexible-use 3500 MHz wireless spectrum in the auction conducted by ISED, and on May 19, 2023, Bell obtained the right to use, through subordination, certain of Xplore Inc.’s 3500 MHz spectrum licences in Québec after approval from ISED. On November 30, 2023, Bell announced having secured the right to acquire 939 wireless spectrum licences in the 3800 MHz spectrum auction for $518 million. On January 17, 2024, Bell made a first payment of $104 million to ISED. The remaining balance of $414 million was paid on May 29, 2024, at which time Bell acquired the 3800 MHz spectrum licences. Essential to Canada’s ongoing transition to 5G communications, these high-capacity airwaves support Bell’s delivery of enhanced 5G digital experiences to Canadian consumers and businesses in urban, rural and remote communities.

In 2024, Bell continued to expand its 5G network to new markets across Québec, Ontario, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba. Bell’s 5G network covered 87% of Canada’s population at December 31, 2024, a significant increase from the 26% of Canada’s population covered at the end of 2020, attributable in part to our capital expenditure acceleration program, which provided for $1.7 billion in additional network funding in 2021 and 2022, in addition to the approximately $4 billion that Bell typically spent each year in network expansion and enhancement prior to 2020.

In July 2022, Bell began deploying 3500 MHz wireless spectrum, unleashing the next phase of 5G advancement and allowing Bell to launch its 5G+ network. Bell 5G+ is expected to be faster and more responsive, allowing for a superior mobile experience. Initially launched in southern Ontario, the 5G+ network was expanded to Manitoba and many centres cross Atlantic Canada, as well as in other communities, and reached 60% of Canada’s population at December 31, 2024, with the availability of peak theoretical download speeds of 3 Gbps in select markets.

In 2022, Bell also announced plans to roll out a 5G standalone core network, starting in Toronto. The addition of 3500 MHz wireless spectrum allows Bell to deliver a new 5G core network to Canadian businesses, supported by world-class SA architecture, and which is expected, over time, to unlock even faster speeds and ultra-low latency. Over time, a 5G SA core network will provide additional benefits such as network slicing and is expected to enable a full range of 5G features and functionality for both enterprise and consumer use cases, and support the growth of IoT.

Wireline

Voice and data network

Our national voice and data network consists of an optical fibre network with the latest technologies to provide redundancy and fault protection. It reaches all major Canadian metropolitan centres, as well as New York, Chicago, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Minneapolis, Ashburn (Virginia), Seattle and Secaucus in the U.S.

Our network in major Canadian cities provides state-of-the-art high-speed access at multi-gigabit speeds based on IP technology. We operate a national IP multi-protocol label switching network with international gateways to the rest of the world. This network delivers next-generation, business-grade IP virtual private network (IP VPN) services that connect our customers’ offices throughout Canada and around the world. The IP VPN service is the foundation platform required for the delivery of business service solutions that add value and efficiencies to customers’ businesses. These technology solutions include voice over IP/IP telephony, IP videoconferencing, IP call centre applications and other future IP-based applications. In addition, we maintain extensive copper and voice-switching networks that provide traditional local and interexchange voice and data services to all business and residential customers in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba.

In April 2021, Bell announced commercial 400 gigabit wavelength service deployed across major spans of Bell’s fibre infrastructure to deliver significantly increased connectivity speed and capacity while optimizing network performance and energy efficiency. 400 gigabit technology increases fibre capacity using less network hardware and more automation to deliver four times the data speed and 50% more capacity per wavelength than compared to 100 gigabit core infrastructure or previous technology.

Key traffic routes span more than 25,000 kilometres across Canada and into the U.S.

On November 16, 2021, Bell and Nokia announced the first successful test of 25G passive optical network (PON) fibre broadband technology in North America, which validates that current GPON and XGS-PON broadband technology and future 25G PON can work seamlessly together on the same fibre hardware, which is being deployed throughout the network. 25G PON delivers significant symmetrical bandwidth capacity that will support new use cases such as premium service and 5G transport. Further, in partnership with Nokia, Bell achieved a significant advancement in Canadian broadband technology with the successful completion of the country’s first 50G PON technology trial at our Advanced Technical Lab in Montréal. To do this, we leveraged our existing fibre infrastructure to provide even faster Internet speeds to customers.

High-speed fibre deployment

Our strategic imperative to build the best networks has included the expansion of our fibre network to more homes and business locations. Bell has invested significantly to deploy FTTP connections to overlay legacy copper infrastructure, with fibre directly to homes and businesses. In addition, Bell continues to deploy FTTP to all new urban and suburban housing developments in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba, in addition to Bell’s ongoing deployment of FTTP to multi-dwelling units and business locations. In our view, FTTP, in which optical fibre cables are used to connect each and every location, is the best available network architecture to support future bandwidth-demanding IP services and applications. Our residential fibre-optic Internet service, marketed as Fibe Internet and Virgin Plus Internet, is enabled by our fibre network, offering symmetrical download and upload speeds of up to 3 Gbps with FTTP through our Gigabit Fibe 3.0 service, as well as download speeds of up to 100 Mbps with FTTN. On February 8, 2024, we announced that we would cap fibre speeds at 3 Gbps as a result of federal government policies and the CRTC’s decision of November 6, 2023 that imposed an interim aggregated access to FTTP facilities obligation and discourages network investment.

Introduced in April 2022, the Bell Gigabit Fibe 3.0 service was initially offered in eligible areas of Toronto and has since been rolled out in several communities across Ontario, Québec, Manitoba and the Atlantic provinces.

Bell Gigabit Fibe service includes the new Giga Hub with Wi-Fi 6E, the next evolution of Wi-Fi, enabling faster speeds and lower latency when used with a compatible device, and allowing customers to work, learn, video chat, stream and game online on any or all of their household devices simultaneously.

In addition to the significant deployments of FTTP direct fibre connections announced in prior years, which continued throughout the Greater Toronto Area/905 region surrounding Toronto, on the island of Montréal, in Hamilton and Winnipeg, we announced in August 2022 an investment of over $650 million in partnership with a Government of Ontario investment of $484 million to deploy Bell’s all-fibre network to over 80,000 homes and businesses in underserved regions across Ontario, as part of the Ontario Accelerated High Speed Internet Program (AHSIP).

Also, in addition to several direct fibre deployment projects announced in a number of smaller communities over the past few years, on March 22, 2021, Bell announced that it would roll out high-speed Internet service to several underserved areas of Québec in partnership with the governments of Canada and Québec as part of their Operation High Speed initiative to connect all Québecers by September 2022. The Bell project provides 100% fibre Internet connections to approximately 31,000 homes and businesses in nearly 100 Québec communities. In 2023, Northwestel completed the final year of construction in its Every Community Project, launching fibre-to-the-home service in 24 locations in Yukon and 18 locations in the Northwest Territories.

In 2023, Bell announced the expansion of pure fibre Internet service to additional homes and businesses, including in the Ontario communities of Leamington, Lincoln, Essex Centre and Harrow, and in six more communities across rural Manitoba. In addition, as part of the Grand Council Treaty #3 Dibaajimowin Project, Bell will provide broadband fibre-optic Internet access to 23 Indigenous and 13 non-Indigenous communities in Northwestern Ontario.

In 2025, our planned capital spending will be focused on our strategic imperatives, reflecting an appropriate level of investment in our networks and services. As a direct result of the CRTC’s rejection on February 3, 2025 of a Governor-in-Council request to reconsider its November 2023 decision that provided large carriers temporary wholesale tariffed access to Bell’s FTTP network, we expect to reduce our capital expenditures by more than we anticipated would be the case for 2025. Consequently, our near-term fibre build target of 8.3 million locations by the end of 2025 will not be reached. At December 31, 2024, our FTTP footprint covered approximately 7.8 million homes and businesses in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba.

In addition to our Fibe Internet service, we offer Internet under the Virgin Plus brand for customers in Ontario and Québec. This high-speed Internet service offers existing Virgin Plus customers download speeds of up to 1 Gbps and upload speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

Additionally, we continue to deploy our IPTV services in areas in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba where cable providers had long been dominant. As of December 31, 2024, our IPTV services had the capacity to service approximately 9.8 million homes in major cities and municipalities across Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba.

On November 4, 2024, BCE announced that Bell Canada had entered into an agreement to acquire Ziply Fiber, the leading fibre Internet provider in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., for approximately $3.65 billion in U.S. dollars (approximately $5 billion in Canadian dollars) in cash and the assumption of outstanding net debt of approximately $1.45 billion in U.S. dollars (approximately $2 billion in Canadian dollars) to be rolled over at transaction close, representing a transaction value of approximately $5.1 billion in U.S. dollars (approximately $7 billion in Canadian dollars). This strategic acquisition is expected to grow Bell’s position as North America’s third largest fibre Internet provider. Together, Bell Canada and Ziply Fiber have a goal to reach approximately 12 million fiber locations in North America by the end of 2028. This is expected to accelerate subscriber, revenue and EBITDA growth for Bell. The transaction is subject to certain customary closing conditions and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals, including the Federal Communications Commission, and approvals by state Public Utilities Commissions. The proposed acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025. This transaction will enhance Bell Canada’s growth profile and strategic position by giving it a foothold in the large, underpenetrated U.S. fibre market, while increasing its scale, diversifying its operating footprint and unlocking significant growth opportunities. Refer to section 4.1, Transactions in this Annual Information Form for more details.

WTTP

WTTP is 5G-capable fixed wireless technology delivered over Bell’s wireless network using 3500 MHz spectrum to deliver high-speed Internet service to residents in smaller and underserved communities. WTTP enables Bell’s WHI broadband service and complements its FTTP network.

In 2021, Bell completed the buildout of its WHI service in small towns and rural communities across Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba, reaching its target of 1 million locations one year ahead of schedule. The accelerated rollout of its Wireless Home Internet service formed part of Bell’s capital expenditure acceleration program which provided for additional network funding in 2021 and 2022.

Bell delivers WHI service with 50/10 to a majority of customers. Innovation in WTTP complements Bell’s extensive broadband fibre buildout in urban markets, and our deployment of WTTP in rural locations underscores our focus on the full utilization of Bell’s assigned wireless spectrum resources.

DSL

We also offer DSL-based Internet service in areas where Fibe Internet and WHI are not available, with download speeds of up to 5 Mbps.

Satellite TV service

We provide satellite TV service nationwide under the Bell TV brand using satellites operated by Telesat Canada.

The table below shows the number of BCE employees at December 31, 2024 and 2023.

Approximately 43% of BCE employees were represented by unions and were covered by collective agreements at December 31, 2024.

The following collective agreements covering 250 or more employees were ratified in 2024:

The following collective agreements covering 250 or more employees will expire in 2025:

No collective agreements covering 250 or more employees have already expired at the time.

General

ESG practices form an integral part of BCE’s corporate responsibility approach, which is to manage the company in ways that nurture the social and economic prosperity of our communities while safeguarding the environment.

BCE has adopted a range of ESG policies that are supported by various programs and initiatives. These policies address issues of importance to our many stakeholders, including, but not limited to: preventing conflicts of interest; protecting company assets; safeguarding privacy and confidentiality; treating clients, business partners, team members and competitors with respect and honesty; fostering a safe workplace; protecting the environment; and responsible use of AI.

These BCE policies include, among others, the following:

We report annually on our corporate responsibility performance and our ESG practices. Since 2022, we no longer publish a Corporate Responsibility Report. Instead, we are presenting both our financial and non-financial performance in an integrated annual report available at BCE.ca. For greater certainty, BCE’s integrated annual report is not part of this Annual Information Form and is not incorporated by reference herein.

Additional information regarding our corporate governance and risk management practices, as well as our corporate responsibility strategy and related activities and outcomes, can be found in section 1.5, Corporate governance and risk management and section 1.6, Capitals and our corporate responsibility of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on pages 21 to 31 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

Environment

Environmental protection and efficient energy performance are core to our corporate responsibility approach. Our Environmental Policy, which is reviewed annually, contains principles that support our goals, ranging from exercising due diligence to meet or exceed requirements of the environmental legislation that applies to us, to preventing pollution and promoting cost-effective resource and waste minimization initiatives. We have instructed subsidiaries subject to this policy to support these principles, and have established an executive-level committee to oversee the implementation of the policy. We monitor our operations to seek to ensure that we comply with our Environmental Policy, environmental requirements and standards, and take action seeking to prevent and correct problems when needed. We have an environmental management system in place that:

Since 2009, Bell Canada maintains an environmental management system certified to the ISO 14001 standard, making us the first North American communications company to be so designated(1). This certification covers Bell Canada’s internal governance to ensure execution of the environmental management system associated with the development of policies and procedures for the delivery of services by Bell Canada for business sectors network & broadband services (wireline, wireless, Internet, TV), cloud and data hosting, broadcast services (radio, digital platform & television) and connectivity and advertising technology and event promotion. In addition, in 2020, our energy management system was certified to be ISO 50001-compliant, making us the first North American communications company to be so designated(2). This certification covers the corporate and operational level management activities related to Bell Canada’s energy management program at its national business locations associated with the activities of real estate management services, fleet services, radio broadcasting and digital media services, landline, wireless, TV, Internet services, connectivity, broadband services, data hosting and cloud computing, in addition to related general administrative functions.

One of our key tools is our Corporate Environmental Action Plan, which outlines the environmental activities of our various business units. The plan identifies funding requirements, accountabilities and deliverables, and monitors our progress in meeting our objectives.

For the year ended December 31, 2024, we spent $14.6 million as expenses and $86.8 million as capital expenditures for environmental activities. For 2025, we have budgeted $17 million of expenses and $15.3 million of capital expenditures to seek to ensure that our Environmental Policy is applied properly, that our environmental risks are minimized and that we progress towards our greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.

Additional information regarding our environmental protection activities can be found in section 1.6, Capitals and our corporate responsibility of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on pages 24 to 31 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

BCE welcomes the increased demand from our stakeholders for transparency regarding our climate actions. We also believe it is important to detail how climate-related risks and opportunities can affect our business. With the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures’ (TCFD) recommendations now integrated into the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) standards, we continue to monitor our disclosures against leading climate-related frameworks. We report on climate-related information in our Climate Action Report, available at BCE.ca. For greater certainty, our Climate Action Report is not part of this Annual Information Form and is not incorporated by reference herein.

A discussion of our competitive environment can be found in section 3.3, Principal business risks and the various subsections entitled Competitive landscape and industry trends and Principal business risks of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on pages 39 to 40, 56 to 58, 59, 62 to 63 and 65 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

See also section 3.4, Competitive strengths in this Annual Information Form for more information concerning our competitive position.

3.10 Regulatory environment

A discussion of certain legislation that governs our businesses, as well as government consultations and recent regulatory initiatives and proceedings affecting us, can be found in section 8, Regulatory environment of the BCE 2024 MD&A, on pages 82 to 87 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

More information about the Canadian ownership restrictions on BCE’s common shares can be found in section 5.1, BCE securities in this Annual Information Form.

3.11 Intangible properties

Intellectual property

We use various works protected by intellectual property rights (IP Assets), which we own or for which we have been granted rights of use. These IP Assets include, without limitation: brand names; trademarks such as names, designs and logos; copyrights of content, programs and musical works; broadcast signals, software and applications; domain names; patents or patent applications for inventions owned or produced by us and our employees; and various other copyright materials, trademarks, patents and other intellectual property owned or licensed by us. We derive value through the use of these IP Assets in various business activities, and they are important to our operations and our success. To protect these IP Assets, we rely on a combination of legal protections afforded under copyright, trademark, patent and other intellectual property laws, as well as contractual provisions under licensing arrangements.

In particular, the Bell brand plays a key role in product positioning. Our branding is straightforward and directly supports our strategy of delivering a better customer experience at every level. Our trademark rights are perpetual, provided that their registrations are renewed on a timely basis when applicable and that the trademarks are used in commerce by us or our licensees. Other types of intangible proprietary information are also important to our operations, such as customer lists.

We believe that we take reasonable and appropriate measures to protect, renew and defend our IP Assets, including prosecuting infringers, and we take great care not to infringe on the intellectual property rights of others. However, we cannot provide any assurance that the laws protecting intellectual property in various jurisdictions are, or will continue to be, adequate to protect our IP Assets or that we will be successful in preventing or defending claims by others asserting rights in or to our IP Assets, or enforcing their intellectual property rights.

Spectrum and broadcasting licences

Our intangible assets also include spectrum licences from ISED, which provide us with the right to utilize designated wireless spectrum to provide our wireless services, and broadcasting licences from the CRTC, which enable us to deliver Bell Media’s content to Canadians.

Our wireless spectrum licence holdings extend across various spectrum bands and regions across Canada, totalling more than 8.6 billion MHz-Pop, corresponding to an average of approximately 233 MHz of spectrum per Canadian(1). Prior to 2022, we deployed 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 1900 MHz, AWS and 850 MHz as part of our wireless networks. In 2022. we began deploying our 3500 MHz spectrum acquired in the 2021 auction. In 2024, we began deploying our 3800 MHz spectrum acquired in the 2023 auction. We intend to renew existing licences to meet network capacity requirements.

Also, on November 30, 2023, Bell Mobility announced having secured the right to acquire 939 wireless spectrum licences in the recently completed 3800 MHz spectrum auction for $518 million. On January 17, 2024, Bell made a first payment of $104 million to ISED. The remaining balance of $414 million was paid on May 29, 2024, at which time Bell acquired the 3800 MHz spectrum licences.

Broadcasting licences issued by the CRTC are important to the success of our Bell Media segment, as they allow us to deliver radio and TV services in the communities in which we operate. We seek to maintain and renew, as applicable, all such broadcasting licences required for our operations. Many of our licences are set for a five-year term and reviewed by the CRTC under a group licence approach. While we expect to continually renew our licences, the terms under which they are provided may change from one licence term to another.

(1) Based on 2021 population census data in line with new ISED standard.

This section contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, relating to the proposed acquisition by Bell Canada of Ziply Fiber, the expected timing and completion thereof, the sources of liquidity we expect to use to fund the proposed acquisition, certain potential benefits expected to result from the proposed acquisition including the combined Bell Canada and Ziply Fiber target number of fibre locations to be reached by the end of 2028, Bell Canada’s growth prospects and strategic positioning, the proposed disposition of BCE’s ownership stake in MLSE, the expected timing and completion thereof, the intended use by BCE of the net proceeds from the proposed disposition and the planned access by Bell Media to content rights for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors for the next 20 years, the proposed disposition of Northwestel, the expected timing and completion thereof, the intended use by Bell Canada of the proceeds from the proposed disposition and the planned continuation of a Bell Canada partnership with Northwestel beyond transaction close, and our objectives, plans and strategic priorities. Refer to section 1, Caution regarding forward-looking statements in this Annual Information Form.

In line with our strategic imperatives, since 2022, we have entered into or announced transactions and implemented various business strategies and corporate initiatives that have influenced the general development of our business. During this period, our regulatory environment has also influenced the general development of our business. The principal transactions, regulatory developments, business strategies and corporate initiatives that have influenced the general development of our business during the last three completed financial years are discussed below.

Proposed disposition of Northwestel

On June 10, 2024, Bell Canada entered into an agreement with Sixty North Unity, a consortium of Indigenous communities from the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, to dispose of Northwestel, the largest telecommunications service provider in Canada’s North, for up to $1 billion, subject to adjustments. Bell Canada plans to maintain a strategic partnership with Northwestel beyond the transaction close through ongoing operational support, and as Northwestel’s largest customer. The transaction is expected to close in 2025 subject to certain closing conditions, including securing financing by Sixty North Unity and the completion of confirmatory due diligence and as such, there can be no assurance that the transaction will ultimately be consummated. The Competition Bureau’s approval was received in the fourth quarter of 2024. Bell Canada intends to use the proceeds from the transaction to pay down debt.

Proposed disposition of minority stake in MLSE

On September 18, 2024, BCE announced the sale of its 37.5% ownership stake in MLSE to Rogers for gross proceeds of $4.7 billion. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including relevant sports league and other customary approvals. The Competition Bureau’s approval was received in December 2024. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2025. BCE intends to direct the $4.2 billion net proceeds of this disposition towards the proposed acquisition of Ziply Fiber. In addition, Bell Media has secured access to content rights for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Toronto Raptors on TSN for the next 20 years through a long-term agreement with Rogers, also subject to league approvals.

Proposed acquisition of Ziply Fiber

On November 4, 2024, BCE announced that Bell Canada had entered into an agreement to acquire Ziply Fiber, the leading fibre Internet provider in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., for approximately $3.65 billion in U.S. dollars (approximately $5 billion in Canadian dollars) in cash and the assumption of outstanding net debt of approximately $1.45 billion in U.S. dollars (approximately $2 billion in Canadian dollars) to be rolled over at transaction close, representing a transaction value of approximately $5.1 billion in U.S. dollars (approximately $7 billion in Canadian dollars). This strategic acquisition is expected to grow Bell’s position as North America’s third largest fibre internet provider. Together, Bell Canada and Ziply Fiber have a goal to reach approximately 12 million fiber locations in North America by the end of 2028. This is expected to accelerate subscriber, revenue and EBITDA growth for Bell.

The transaction is subject to certain customary closing conditions and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals, including the Federal Communications Commission, and approvals by state Public Utilities Commissions. The proposed acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025. This transaction will enhance Bell Canada’s growth profile and strategic position by giving it a foothold in the large, underpenetrated U.S. fibre market, while increasing its scale, diversifying its operating footprint and unlocking significant growth opportunities.

Key completed transactions

We have concluded a number of transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, partnerships and investments, since 2022 to support our strategic imperatives and our purpose to advance how Canadians connect with each other and the world. More information with respect to the most significant of these transactions is provided in the table below.

Acquisition of wireless spectrum

In 2021, Bell acquired significant additional mid-band, flexible-use 3500 MHz wireless spectrum in the auction by ISED. Essential to Canada’s ongoing transition to 5G communications, these high-capacity airwaves extend Bell’s leadership in delivering enhanced 5G digital experiences to Canadian consumers and businesses in urban, rural and remote communities. Bell acquired 271 licences for 678 million MHz-Pop of 3500 MHz spectrum – critical to enabling the full potential of 5G – for $2.07 billion.

On May 19, 2023, after approval from ISED, Bell obtained the right to use, through subordination, certain of Xplore Inc.’s 3500 MHz spectrum licences in Québec for $145 million.

On November 30, 2023, Bell Mobility announced having secured the right to acquire 939 licences of 3800 MHz spectrum for 1.77 billion MHz-Pop for $518 million. This acquisition will increase Bell’s total 3500 MHz and 3800 MHz spectrum holdings to 3.5 billion MHz-Pop, acquired at an average cost of $0.79 per MHz-Pop. On January 17, 2024, Bell made a first payment of $104 million to ISED. The remaining balance of $414 million was paid on May 29, 2024, at which time Bell acquired the 3800 MHz spectrum licences.

Normal course issuer bid for BCE preferred shares

On November 3, 2022, BCE announced the renewal of its existing normal course issuer bid (2022 NCIB), which extended from November 9, 2022 to November 8, 2023, and BCE repurchased and cancelled an aggregate of 7,411,036 first preferred shares under the 2022 NCIB. On November 2, 2023, BCE announced the renewal of its normal course issuer bid (2023 NCIB), which extended from November 9, 2023 to November 8, 2024. BCE repurchased and cancelled an aggregate of 5,599,285 Preferred Shares under the 2023 NCIB. On November 7, 2024, BCE announced the renewal of its normal course issuer bid (2024 NCIB), which will extend from November 11, 2024 to November 10, 2025, or an earlier date should BCE complete its purchases under the 2024 NCIB.

BCE initiated the 2024 NCIB because it believed that, from time to time, the first preferred shares may trade in price ranges that do not fully reflect their value. BCE believes that, in such circumstances, the repurchase of its first preferred shares represents an appropriate use of its available funds.

The actual number of first preferred shares to be repurchased under the 2024 NCIB and the timing of such repurchases will be at BCE’s discretion and shall be subject to the limitations set out by the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The 2024 NCIB may be conducted through the facilities of the TSX as well as alternative trading systems in Canada, if eligible, or by such other means as may be permitted by securities regulatory authorities. At December 31, 2024, BCE had repurchased and cancelled 1,045,000 first preferred shares under the 2024 NCIB.

Refer to the sections of the BCE 2022 MD&A and BCE 2023 MD&A, contained in the BCE 2022 Annual Financial Report and BCE 2023 Annual Financial Report, respectively, indicated in the table below for a discussion of various business strategies and corporate initiatives implemented, and other actions taken, in the financial years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2023 that have influenced the general development of our business in 2022 and 2023. Refer to the sections of the BCE 2024 MD&A, contained in the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report, indicated in the table below for a discussion of various business strategies and corporate initiatives implemented, and other actions taken, in the financial year ended December 31, 2024 that have influenced the general development of our business in 2024, and the priorities we intend to focus on in 2025.

During the past three financial years, the general development of our business has been affected, and will continue to be affected, by decisions made by the Government of Canada and its relevant departments and agencies, including the CRTC, ISED, Canadian Heritage and the Competition Bureau. Although most of our retail services are not price-regulated, government agencies and departments such as those mentioned above continue to play a significant role in regulatory matters such as establishing and modifying regulations for mandatory access to networks, spectrum auctions, the imposition of consumer-related codes of conduct, approval of acquisitions, broadcast and spectrum licensing, foreign ownership requirements, privacy and cybersecurity obligations and control of copyright piracy. Refer to section 8, Regulatory environment of the BCE 2022 MD&A, BCE 2023 MD&A and BCE 2024 MD&A contained in the BCE 2022 Annual Financial Report, BCE 2023 Annual Financial Report and BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report, respectively, for a discussion of the regulatory initiatives and proceedings that influenced, in the financial years ended December 31, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and may in the future influence, the general development of our business.

This section describes BCE’s and Bell Canada’s securities, the trading of certain of such securities on the TSX and the ratings that certain rating agencies have attributed to BCE’s first preferred shares and Bell Canada’s debt securities that are issued and outstanding.

BCE’s articles of amalgamation, as amended, provide for an unlimited number of common shares, an unlimited number of first preferred shares issuable in series, an unlimited number of second preferred shares also issuable in series and an unlimited number of Class B shares. As at March 6, 2025, BCE had no Class B shares or second preferred shares outstanding.

Each common share entitles its holder to one vote at any meeting of shareholders. Additional information about the terms and conditions of the BCE preferred shares, common shares and Class B shares can be found in Note 30, Share capital of the BCE 2024 consolidated financial statements, on pages 158 to 159 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

Since 1993, the Telecommunications Act and associated regulations (Telecom Regulations) have governed Canadian ownership and control of Canadian telecommunications carriers. Bell Canada and other affiliates of BCE that are Canadian carriers are subject to this Act. In 2012, amendments to the Telecommunications Act largely eliminated the foreign ownership restrictions for any carrier that, with its affiliates, has annual revenues from the provision of telecommunications services in Canada that represent less than 10% of the total annual revenues from the provision of these services in Canada, as determined by the CRTC. However, given that Bell Canada and its affiliates exceed this 10% threshold, they remain subject to the pre-existing Canadian ownership and control restrictions, which are detailed below.

Under the Telecommunications Act, in order for a corporation that exceeds the 10% threshold mentioned above to operate as a Canadian common carrier, the following conditions have to be met:

In addition, where a parent company (Carrier holding company) owns at least 66 2/3% of the voting shares of the carrier company (subject to ownership rules), the Carrier holding company must have at least 66 2/3% of its voting shares owned by Canadians and must not be controlled by non-Canadians. BCE is a Carrier holding company. The Telecom Regulations give certain powers to the CRTC and to Canadian carriers and Carrier holding companies to monitor and control the level of non-Canadian ownership of voting shares to ensure compliance with the Telecommunications Act. Accordingly, BCE, which controls Bell Canada and other Canadian carriers, must satisfy the following conditions:

The powers under the Telecom Regulations include the right to:

However, in our case, there is an additional control restriction under the Bell Canada Act. Prior approval by the CRTC is necessary for any sale or other disposal of Bell Canada’s voting shares unless BCE retains at least 80% of all Bell Canada voting shares.

Similarly, the Canadian ownership rules under the Broadcasting Act for broadcasting licensees, such as Bell Media and Bell Canada, generally mirror the rules for Canadian-owned and -controlled common carriers under the Telecommunications Act by restricting allowable foreign investments in voting shares at the licensee operating company level to a maximum of 20% and at the holding company level to a maximum of 33 1/3%. An additional requirement under these Canadian broadcasting ownership rules is that the chief executive officer of a company that is a licensed broadcasting undertaking must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident

of Canada. The CRTC is precluded under a direction issued under the Broadcasting Act from issuing, amending or renewing a broadcasting licence of an applicant that does not satisfy these Canadian ownership and control criteria.

Cultural concerns over increased foreign control of broadcasting activities also require broadcasting licensees to establish programming committees when foreign investment in their holding company, while within permissible limits, exceeds 20%. In line with CRTC practice, programming committees have been established within the relevant subsidiary licensees, thereby allowing foreign investment in voting shares of BCE to reach the maximum of 33 1/3%.

We monitor the level of non-Canadian ownership of BCE’s common shares by obtaining data on: (i) registered shareholders from our transfer agent and registrar, TSX Trust Company, and (ii) beneficial shareholders from the Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS) and the Depository Trust Company (DTC) in the U.S. We also provide periodic reports to the CRTC.

As of March 6, 2025, BCE had no debt securities outstanding.

Bell Canada long-term debt securities

As at December 31, 2024, Bell Canada had issued or assumed long-term debt securities as summarized in the table below.

The Bell Canada long-term debt securities are unsecured and have been guaranteed by BCE. Additional information about the terms and conditions of the Bell Canada long-term debt securities can be found in Note 25, Long-term debt of the BCE 2024 consolidated financial statements on pages 146 to 147 of the BCE 2024 Annual Financial Report.

Under its short form base shelf prospectus dated March 7, 2022 (2022 Shelf Prospectus), Bell Canada was permitted to issue unsecured debt securities from time to time over a 25-month period. In addition, under its prospectus supplement dated May 19, 2022 (2022 Prospectus Supplement), Bell Canada was permitted to issue unsecured Medium Term Notes (MTN) debentures under the 2022 Shelf Prospectus.

On February 9, 2023, Bell Canada issued, under the 2022 Shelf Prospectus and 2022 Prospectus Supplement, $1.5 billion principal amount of MTN debentures in two series. The $1.05 billion 4.55% MTN debentures, Series M-58, were issued at a price of $99.787 per $100 principal amount, to mature on February 9, 2030. The $450 million 5.15% MTN debentures, Series M-59, were issued at a price of $99.500 per $100 principal amount, to mature on February 9, 2053. The net proceeds of the offerings were used to repay short-term debt and for general corporate purposes.

On May 11, 2023, Bell Canada issued, under the 2022 Shelf Prospectus and a prospectus supplement dated May 8, 2023, US$850 million (CA$1,138 million) principal amount of 5.100% Series US-8 Notes, at a price of US$99.930 per US$100 principal amount, to mature on May 11, 2033. The net proceeds of the offering were used to repay short-term debt and for general corporate purposes.

On August 11, 2023, Bell Canada issued, under the 2022 Shelf Prospectus and 2022 Prospectus Supplement, $1.0 billion principal amount of MTN debentures in two series. The $600 million 5.15% MTN debentures, Series M-60, were issued at a price of $99.917 per $100 principal amount, to mature on November 14, 2028. The $400 million 5.60% MTN debentures, Series M-61, were issued at a price of $99.726 per $100 principal amount, to mature on August 11, 2053. The net proceeds of the offerings were used to repay short-term debt and for general corporate purposes.

On November 14, 2023, Bell Canada issued, under the 2022 Shelf Prospectus and 2022 Prospectus Supplement, $1.0 billion principal amount of MTN debentures in two series. The $300 million 5.85% MTN debentures, Series M-57, which were issued pursuant to a re-opening of an existing series of MTN debentures, were issued at a price of $101.232 per $100 principal amount plus accrued and unpaid interest from and including November 10, 2023 to but excluding November 14, 2023, to mature on

November 10, 2032. The $700 million 5.25% MTN debentures, Series M-62, were issued at a price of $99.897 per $100 principal amount, to mature on March 15, 2029. The net proceeds of the offering were used to fund the repayment at maturity of Bell Canada’s $1.0 billion principal amount of 2.70% MTN debentures, Series M-44, due February 2024.

On February 15, 2024, Bell Canada issued, under the 2022 Shelf Prospectus and a prospectus supplement dated February 12, 2024, US$1.45 billion (CA$1.95 billion) aggregate principal amount of notes in two series. The US$700 million (CA$942 million) 5.200% Series US-9 Notes were issued at a price of US$99.823 per US$100 principal amount, to mature on February 15, 2034. The US$750 million (CA$1,009 million) 5.550% Series US-10 Notes were issued at a price of US$99.869 per US$100 principal amount, to mature on February 15, 2054. The net proceeds of the offering were used for the repayment at maturity of Bell Canada’s US$600 million Series US-3 Notes due March 17, 2024, to fund the remaining payment for the 3800 MHz spectrum licences and for other general corporate purposes.

Under its short form base shelf prospectus dated May 9, 2024 (2024 Shelf Prospectus), Bell Canada is permitted to issue unsecured debt securities from time to time over a 25-month period. In addition, under its prospectus supplement dated May 16, 2024 (2024 Prospectus Supplement), Bell Canada was permitted to issue unsecured MTN debentures under the 2024 Shelf Prospectus.

On May 24, 2024, Bell Canada issued, under the 2024 Shelf Prospectus and 2024 Prospectus Supplement, $1.5 billion principal amount of MTN debentures in two series. The $400 million 5.60% MTN debentures, Series M-61, were issued at a price of $101.936 per $100 principal amount, to mature on August 11, 2053. The $1.1 billion 5.15% MTN debentures, Series M-63, were issued at a price of $99.646 per $100 principal amount, to mature on August 24, 2034. The net proceeds of the offering were used to fund the repayment at maturity of Bell Canada’s $600 million Series M-45 MTN debentures due January 29, 2025 and are intended to be used to fund the repayment at maturity of part of Bell Canada’s $1,500 million Series M-47 MTN debentures due March 12, 2025 and for general corporate purposes.

On February 6, 2025, Bell Canada amended and restated its 2024 Shelf Prospectus (the 2024 Amended Shelf Prospectus) to, among other things, amend the description and characteristics of the Debt Securities that may be issued thereunder so as to provide for the issuance of subordinated (including junior subordinated) debt securities in Canada and the U.S., under one or more new trust indentures.

On February 18, 2025, Bell Canada issued, under the 2024 Amended Shelf Prospectus and a prospectus supplement dated February 12, 2025, US$2.25 billion (CA$3.187 billion) aggregate principal amount of Fixed-to-Fixed Rate Junior Subordinated Notes in two series: 1) US$1 billion (CA$1.416 billion) of 6.875% Fixed-to-Fixed Rate Junior Subordinated Notes, Series A due 2055 (the Series A Junior Subordinated Notes); and 2) US$1.25 billion (CA$1.771 billion) of Fixed-to-Fixed Rate Junior Subordinated Notes, Series B due 2055 (the Series B Junior Subordinated Notes and, together with the Series A Junior Subordinated Notes, the Junior Subordinated Notes). The Series A Junior Subordinated Notes will initially bear interest at an annual rate of 6.875% and reset every five years starting on September 15, 2030 at an annual rate equal to the five-year U.S. Treasury rate plus a spread of 2.390%, provided that the interest rate during any five-year interest period will not reset below 6.875%. The Series B Junior Subordinated Notes will initially bear interest at an annual rate of 7.000% and reset every five years starting on September 15, 2035 at an annual rate equal to the five-year U.S. Treasury rate plus a spread of 2.363%, provided that the interest rate during any five-year interest period will not reset below 7.000%. Bell Canada may redeem either series of the Junior Subordinated Notes, in whole or in part, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount commencing on the applicable first reset dates. The net proceeds of the offering are intended to be used to repurchase, redeem or repay, as applicable, Bell Canada’s senior indebtedness and for other general corporate purposes.

As at March 6, 2025, Bell Canada had issued $7.589 billion principal amount of debt securities under its 2022 Shelf Prospectus and approximately $4.7 billion principal amount under its 2024 Amended Shelf Prospectus.

Bell Canada is required, under certain conditions, to make an offer to repurchase all or, at the option of the holder thereof, any part of certain series of its debt securities upon the occurrence of both a “Change of Control” of BCE or Bell Canada and a “Rating Event” relating to the relevant series of debt securities, as defined in the terms and conditions of the relevant series of debt securities or in the relevant trust indenture, as applicable (the Repurchase upon Change of Control Triggering Event).

Bell Canada commercial paper

Bell Canada may issue short-term notes (CP Notes) under its Canadian and U.S. commercial paper programs up to the maximum aggregate principal amount of $3.0 billion in either Canadian or U.S. currency provided that at no time shall such aggregate principal amount of CP Notes exceed $3.5 billion in Canadian currency. The sale of CP Notes pursuant to Bell Canada’s separate Canadian or U.S. program decreases the Canadian or U.S. $3.0 billion maximum principal amount of CP Notes authorized to be

outstanding at any time under both programs, with one Canadian dollar being treated as equal to one U.S. dollar for purposes of this limitation. At March 6, 2025, Bell Canada had CP Notes outstanding under its U.S. program in the principal amount of US$1,696 million (CA$2,424 million when taking into account hedges with forward currency contracts against foreign currency fluctuations). As at the same date, no CP Notes were outstanding under Bell Canada’s Canadian program.

Ratings generally address the ability of a company to repay principal and pay interest or dividends on issued and outstanding securities.

Our ability to raise financing depends on our ability to access the public equity and debt capital markets, the money market, as well as the bank credit market. Our ability to access such markets and the cost and amount of funding available partly depend on our assigned credit ratings at the time capital is raised. Investment grade credit ratings usually mean that when we borrow money, we can obtain lower interest rates than companies that have ratings lower than investment grade. Credit ratings are subject to change based on a number of factors including, but not limited to, our financial strength, competitive position, liquidity and other factors that are not completely within our control. There is no assurance that we will maintain our current credit ratings and a ratings downgrade could result in adverse consequences for our funding cost and capacity, and our ability to access the capital markets, the money market and/or bank credit market.

As of March 6, 2025, BCE’s preferred shares are rated by DBRS Limited (DBRS) and S&P Global Ratings Canada, a business unit of S&P Global Canada Corp. (S&P), and Bell Canada’s debt securities are rated by DBRS, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (Moody’s) and S&P.

This section describes the credit ratings, as of March 6, 2025, for certain of the issued and outstanding securities of BCE and Bell Canada. These ratings provide investors with an independent measure of the credit quality of an issue of securities. However, they are not recommendations to buy, sell or hold any of the securities referred to below, and they may be revised or withdrawn at any time by the assigning rating agency. Ratings are determined by the rating agencies based on criteria established from time to time by them, and they do not comment on market price or suitability for a particular investor. Each credit rating should be evaluated independently of any other credit rating.

In the past two years, we have paid rating agencies to assign ratings to BCE’s preferred shares, as well as to Bell Canada’s short-term and long-term debt securities. The fees paid to DBRS, Moody’s and S&P include access to some or all of their websites. In addition, we paid DBRS for services provided in connection with Bell Canada’s securitization program.

On August 30, 2024, Moody’s downgraded Bell Canada’s issuer rating to Baa2 from Baa1, unsubordinated long-term debt rating to Baa2 from Baa1 and subordinated long-term debt rating to Baa3 from Baa2. Bell Canada’s commercial paper rating was affirmed at P-2. In addition, Moody’s downgraded BCE’s issuer rating to Baa3 from Baa2. The outlook associated with the Moody’s ratings was changed to stable from negative. The downgrades were principally as a result of ongoing debt leverage above Moody’s thresholds for the prior ratings. All of these new ratings on Bell Canada’s unsubordinated and subordinated debt remain investment grade according to Moody’s rating scale with Moody’s Baa3 rating representing its last investment grade rating rank.

On September 12, 2024, S&P downgraded the issuer-credit ratings on BCE and its subsidiaries to BBB from BBB+. At the same time, S&P lowered Bell Canada’s unsubordinated long-term debt rating to BBB from BBB+ and subordinated long-term debt rating to BBB-from BBB. Although Bell Canada’s commercial paper rating was affirmed at A-2 on a Global scale, it was downgraded to A-2 from A-1 (Low) on a Canadian national scale. S&P also lowered the ratings on BCE’s preferred shares to P3 (High) from P2 (Low), on a Canadian national scale, and to BB+ from BBB-, on a Global scale. The outlook associated with the S&P ratings was changed to stable from negative. The downgrades were principally as a result of ongoing debt leverage above S&P’s thresholds for the prior ratings. All of these new ratings on Bell Canada’s unsubordinated and subordinated debt remain investment grade according to S&P’s rating scale with S&P’s BBB- rating representing its last investment grade rating rank. Notwithstanding that preferred shares are not debt or credit instruments, the new P3 (High) and BB+ ratings on BCE’s preferred shares are considered below an investment grade rating on S&P’s rating scale.

On November 5, 2024, DBRS placed all its credit ratings on BCE and Bell Canada Under Review with Negative Implications following BCE’s announcement of a definitive agreement to acquire Ziply Fiber.

On February 18, 2025, Bell Canada issued the Junior Subordinated Notes. The Junior Subordinated Notes are direct and unsecured junior subordinated debt obligations of Bell Canada and, accordingly, are subordinated in right of payment to all present and future indebtedness of Bell Canada (other than indebtedness which by its terms ranks equally with or subordinate to the Junior

Subordinated Notes), including being subordinated to Bell Canada’s subordinated long-term debt issued under its 1996 subordinated trust indenture. DBRS, Moody’s and S&P have assigned ratings of BBB (low), Baa3 and BB+, respectively, to the Junior Subordinated Notes. DBRS’ BBB (low) rating and Moody’s Baa3 rating represent the lowest investment grade ratings according to their respective rating scales. However, S&P’s BB+ rating is considered the highest rating below an investment grade rating on S&P’s rating scale. Additionally, the DBRS rating on the Junior Subordinated Notes is also “Under Review with Negative Implications”.

Ratings for BCE and Bell Canada securities

Ratings for Bell Canada short-term debt securities

Ratings for Bell Canada long-term debt securities

Ratings for BCE preferred shares

As of March 6, 2025, BCE and Bell Canada’s credit ratings have stable outlooks from Moody’s and S&P and a negative outlook from DBRS.

General explanation

Short-term debt securities

The table below shows the range of credit ratings that each rating agency assigns to short-term debt instruments, and is based upon public statements from the respective rating agencies as of March 6, 2025.

The DBRS short-term debt rating scale provides an opinion on the risk that a borrower will not meet its short-term financial obligations in a timely manner. Ratings are based on quantitative and qualitative considerations relevant to the issuer and the relative ranking of claims.

Moody’s short-term ratings are assigned to obligations with an original maturity of 13 months or less and reflect both on the likelihood of a default or impairment on contractual financial obligations and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default or impairment.

An S&P Canadian commercial paper rating is a forward-looking opinion about the capacity of an obligor to meet financial commitments associated with a specific commercial paper program or other short-term financial instrument, relative to the debt servicing and repayment capacity of other obligors active in the Canadian domestic financial markets with respect to their own financial obligations.

An S&P Global rating is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific financial obligation, a specific class of financial obligations or a specific financial program, and about the obligor’s capacity and willingness to meet its financial commitments.

Long-term debt securities

The table below shows the range of credit ratings that each rating agency assigns to long-term debt instruments, and is based upon public statements from the respective rating agencies as of March 6, 2025.

The DBRS long-term debt rating scale provides an opinion on the risk of default; that is, the risk that an issuer will fail to satisfy its financial obligations in accordance with the terms under which an obligation has been issued. Ratings are based on quantitative and qualitative considerations relevant to the issuer and the relative ranking of claims.

Moody’s long-term debt ratings are assigned to issuers or obligations with an original maturity of eleven months or more and reflect both on the likelihood of a default or impairment on contractual financial obligations and the expected financial loss suffered in the event of default or impairment.

S&P’s long-term debt credit rating scale provides a forward-looking opinion of the creditworthiness of a company in meeting a specific financial obligation, a specific class of financial obligations or a specific financial program. It takes into consideration the likelihood of payment; that is, the capacity and willingness of the company to meet its financial commitment on an obligation according to the terms of the obligation, among other factors.

Preferred shares

The table below describes the range of credit ratings that each rating agency assigns to preferred shares and is based upon public statements from the respective rating agencies as of March 6, 2025.

The DBRS preferred share rating scale reflects an opinion of the risk that an issuer will not fulfill its obligations with respect to both dividends and principal commitments. Every DBRS rating is based on quantitative and qualitative considerations relevant to the issuing entity.

S&P’s Canadian preferred share rating is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an obligor in meeting a specific preferred share obligation issued in the Canadian market, compared to preferred shares issued by other issuers in the Canadian market.

An S&P Global rating is a forward-looking opinion about the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific financial obligation, a specific class of financial obligations or a specific financial program, and about the obligor’s capacity and willingness to meet its financial commitments.

Explanation of rating categories received for our securities

The following explanations of the rating categories received for our securities have been published by the applicable rating agencies. The explanations and corresponding rating categories provided below are subject to change by the applicable rating agencies.

The common and first preferred shares of BCE are listed on the TSX under the respective symbols set out in the tables below. BCE’s common shares are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol BCE.

The tables below and on the next page show the range in share price per month and volume traded on the TSX in 2024 for BCE’s common shares and each series of BCE’s first preferred shares.