- Investment to create an estimated 2,700 new jobs, $2.2 billion in economic activity
- Direct fibre links to be available to 1.1 million residences
and business locations
- One of Bell's largest-ever infrastructure projects closely
coordinated with City of Montréal
- Québec to be one of the most-connected broadband jurisdictions
in North America
MONTRÉAL, March 27, 2017 /CNW
Telbec/ - Bell today announced it will invest a further
$854 million to bring direct fibre
links and the fastest Internet speeds available to more homes and
businesses throughout Montréal. Bell's fibre to the home (FTTH)
connections will ultimately reach a total of 1.1 million residences
and business locations throughout Québec's largest metropolis.
"Bell was founded in Montréal in 1880 and ever since we have led
the way in delivering the latest communications innovations to the
city and the country. Now, our plan to directly connect more than a
million homes and businesses here with the fastest broadband fibre
technology will ensure Montréal's place at the forefront of global
Smart Cities," said George Cope,
President and CEO of BCE and Bell
Canada. "Bell's leadership in next-generation networks has
transformed our company into the growth leader in broadband
Internet, TV and wireless. By connecting everyone in Montréal with
the best in broadband, Bell is enabling the benefits of increased
innovation and economic growth for our home city now and into the
future."
"I'm delighted that our city will soon rank among the best in
broadband connections and ultra-fast downloading and uploading
speeds," said Denis Coderre, Mayor
of Montréal. "There is a direct and positive correlation between
access to an ultra-fast Internet network and a community's economic
development. Especially for a city like Montréal, known for its
dynamic digital sector and the expertise of its cutting-edge
industries like video gaming, aerospace and health technologies,
today's announcement packs tremendous economic potential."
"Starting in 2013, my administration wanted to position Montréal
as an innovative, digital city. So it's no coincidence that private
companies are increasingly making Montréal their home. The
announcement that Bell is investing $854
million in new communications infrastructure will without a
doubt allow us to attract even more leading-edge businesses. This
will be among the many advantages Montréal has to offer in terms of
digital infrastructure," said Mayor Coderre.
The $854 million investment is
fully funded by Bell and represents the largest-ever communications
infrastructure project in Québec. Based on the results of previous
fibre projects in Québec City, Toronto and other major urban centres, Bell
estimates the Montréal project will create approximately 2,700
direct and indirect jobs in Québec and an additional $2.2 billion in new economic activity. Bell is
partnering with a large number of local suppliers, including
Asplundh, Effigis Geo-Solutions, G-TEK, Infrastructel, Telecon, TCI
and TRJ Télécom, to complete the project.
Bell's expansion will install more than 7,000 kilometres of new
fibre and upgrade 25 central offices across Montréal. More
than 90% of Bell's network in the city is on aerial structures
already in place, which will help to speed the deployment of the
new fibre links. Working closely with the city to manage the
deployment, Bell is partnering with Montréal's 3-1-1 information
service to answer questions from residents about the project, and
updates on service availability can be found at Bell.ca/Mtl.
Last month, the City of Montréal announced the development of a
central point of contact for public utility companies:
telecommunications, cable, electricity and natural gas. The
objective of this single contact point is to improve the management
and integration of all partners' work in order to minimize
disturbance to local residents.
Bell's fibre technology leadership
The fastest
technology now and built for the future, Bell's broadband FTTH
network enables the Gigabit Fibe Internet service that is already
available in several thousand locations in Montréal.
Bell Gigabit Fibe delivers download speeds up to a full gigabit
(1000 megabits per second), meaning customers can for example
download 100 photos or songs in 3 seconds, or an entire HD movie in
7 seconds. Fibe's unmatched upload speeds also make it the ideal
choice for business, education and health services, gaming, social
media and other applications that require customers to quickly
upload large amounts of data.
Bell's proven and flexible FTTH technology will enable the
delivery of Internet access speeds of up to 10 gigabit and 40
gigabit in future.
"Ultra fast networks are a vital component of Montréal's Smart
City strategy, and Bell's broadband fibre and wireless networks are
playing a key role in the transformation of the city's economy,"
said Martine Turcotte, Bell's Vice
Chair, Québec. "Bell is extremely proud of the contribution we've
made to Montréal's social and economic growth over the last 137
years. As we celebrate our home city's 375th birthday,
Bell is providing the next-generation communications infrastructure
that will open up incredible new opportunities for innovation and
growth across business, education, public services and other key
sectors of the community."
Montréal joins a growing number of centres across Québec that
are fully wired with Bell fibre – including Québec City, launched
in 2012 as Bell's first full urban fibre deployment. The addition
of more than a million locations in Montréal makes Québec one of
the most-connected broadband jurisdictions in North America. By the end of the year, Bell
fibre will reach approximately 40% of homes and businesses
throughout Québec.
Independent testing found that FTTH networks like Bell's
outperformed all other wireline broadband technologies when it
comes to meeting or exceeding advertised speeds, providing
superfast download and upload speeds with the best web-browsing
performance during both peak and off-peak hours. To learn more
about Bell fibre technology and Gigabit Fibe service, please visit
Bell.ca/Fibe.
About Bell
Headquartered in Montréal since its
founding in 1880, Bell is Canada's largest communications company,
providing consumers and business customers with wireless, TV,
Internet, home phone and business communications services. Bell
Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in
television, radio, out of home, and digital media. For more
information, please visit Bell.ca.
The Bell Let's Talk initiative promotes Canadian mental health
with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let's
Talk Day, and significant Bell funding of mental health care and
access, research and workplace leadership initiatives. To learn
more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
Caution concerning forward-looking statements
Certain
statements made in this news release are forward-looking
statements. These statements include, without limitation,
statements relating to the proposed deployment in Montréal of
Bell's FTTH broadband fibre technology to ultimately 1.1 million
residences and business locations, the value of the planned
investment, the number of jobs and economic and other benefits
expected to result from the planned network deployment, the
expected timeframe of the deployment of Bell's fibre to
approximately 40% of residences and businesses throughout Québec,
and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking
statements are typically identified by the
words assumption, goal, guidance, objective, outlook,
project, strategy, target and other similar expressions or
future or conditional verbs such as aim, anticipate,
believe, could, expect, intend, may, plan, seek, should,
strive and will. All such forward-looking
statements are made pursuant to the 'safe harbour' provisions of
applicable Canadian securities laws and of the United
States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.
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. As a result, we cannot guarantee that
any forward-looking statement will materialize and we caution you
against relying on any of these forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements contained in this news release describe
our expectations as of March 27, 2017 and, accordingly,
are subject to change after such date. Except as may be required by
Canadian securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this
news release, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. The proposed network deployment, and the
expected timeframe, are subject to risks including, without
limitation, the timely supply of parts and equipment, and the costs
thereof, by suppliers and contractors. Accordingly, there can be no
assurance that the proposed network deployment will be completed or
that it will be completed within the expected timeframe. The value
of the planned investment assumes our ability to access or generate
the necessary sources of capital. However, there can be no
certainty that the required sources of capital will be available
with the result that the actual investment made by us could
materially differ from current expectations. There can also be no
assurance that the employment and economic and other benefits
expected to result from the proposed network deployment will be
realized.
The proposed network deployment could also be impacted by our
operational risks. Please refer to BCE's 2016 Annual MD&A
dated March 2, 2017 (included in the BCE 2016 Annual
Report) , for a detailed description of such risks, filed by BCE
with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities
(available at Sedar.com) and with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission (available at SEC.gov). These documents
are also available at BCE.ca.
Media inquiries:
Bell
Marie-Eve Francoeur
514-391-5263
marie-eve.francoeur@bell.ca
@Bell_News
City of Montréal
Marc-André Gosselin
514-290-1194
marc-andreg.gosselin@ville.montreal.qc.ca
Investor inquiries:
Bell
Thane Fotopoulos
514-870-4619
thane.fotopoulos@bell.ca
SOURCE Bell Canada