2023 Annual Information Form

Telco to Techco

ANNUAL INFORMATION FORM

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2023

MARCH 7, 2024

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 2021, 2022 and 2023 management's discussion and analysis (BCE 2021 MD&A, BCE 2022 MD&A and BCE 2023 MD&A, respectively) and each section of BCE's 2023 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 2021 MD&A, BCE 2022 MD&A, BCE 2023 MD&A and BCE 2023 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. In particular, but without limitation, BCE's integrated annual report for the year ended December 31, 2023 (BCE 2023 Integrated Annual Report) and BCE's Climate Action Report 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 7, 2024, 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., 2024. All rights reserved.

Table of contents

				Parts of MD&A and financial statements
			Annual	incorporated by reference (references are to
			information	pages of the BCE 2023 Annual Financial Report,
			form	except where otherwise indicated)
1	Caution regarding forward-lookingstatements	2	33; 40; 61; 66; 88-98
2	Corporate structure	4
	2.1	Incorporation and registered office	4
	2.2	Subsidiaries	4
3	Description of our business	5
	3.1	General summary	5	15-18; 47; 55; 60-61;65-66; 82
	3.2	Strategic imperatives	6	35-38
	3.3	Our transformation from Telco to Techco	6
	3.4	Competitive strengths	6	36
	3.5	Marketing and distribution channels	11
	3.6	Networks	13
	3.7	Employees	15
	3.8	Corporate responsibility	16	23-34
	3.9	Competitive environment	17	42-43;58-60; 62; 64-65; 67
	3.10	Regulatory environment	17	83-87
	3.11	Intangible properties	17
4	General development of our business - three-yearhistory	19
	4.1	Transactions	19
	4.2	Corporate developments	20	18-23;35-38;18-21 (1);33-36 (1);38-42 (2);51-54 (2)
	4.3	Regulatory environment	20	83-87;86-90 (1);103-106 (2)
5	Our capital structure	21
	5.1	BCE securities	21	154-155
	5.2	Bell Canada debt securities	22	144-145
	5.3	Credit ratings	23
	5.4	Trading of our securities	26
6	Dividends and dividend payout policy	28	20-23;103-108
7	Our directors and executive officers	30
	7.1	Directors	30
	7.2	Executive officers	31
	7.3	Directors' and executive officers' share ownership	31
8	Legal proceedings	32
9	Interest of management and others in material transactions	34
10	Interest of experts	34
11	Transfer agent and registrar	34
12	For more information	34
13	Schedule 1 - Audit Committee information	35
14	Schedule 2 - Audit Committee charter	37

1. References to parts of the BCE 2022 MD&A contained in BCE's annual financial report for the year ended December 31, 2022 (BCE 2022 Annual Financial Report).
2. References to parts of the BCE 2021 MD&A contained in BCE's annual report for the year ended December 31, 2021 (BCE 2021 Annual Report).

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Caution regarding forward-looking statements

1 Caution regarding forward-looking statements

Certain statements made in this Annual Information Form are forward-looking statements. These statements include, without limitation, statements relating to BCE's dividend growth objective, 2024 annualized common share dividend and dividend payout ratio level, and dividend payout policy target, BCE's anticipated capital expenditures and network deployment plans, our transformation initiatives and the benefits expected to result therefrom, the cost savings and other benefits expected to result from workforce reductions as well as estimated related severance payments, the expected timing and completion of the proposed acquisition of the Canadian out-of-home (OOH) media business of OUTFRONT Media Inc. (OUTFRONT) and the benefits expected to result therefrom, our 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, 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 U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

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Unless otherwise indicated by us, forward-looking statements in this Annual Information Form describe our expectations as at March 7, 2024 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-lookingstatements, 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 at March 7, 2024. Refer in particular to the sub-sections of the BCE 2023 MD&A entitled Assumptions on pages 33, 40, 61 and 66 of BCE's annual financial report for the year ended December 31, 2023 (BCE 2023 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 a potential recession, elevated inflation, high interest rates and financial and capital market volatility, and the resulting negative impact on business and customer spending and the demand for our products and services; the negative effect of adverse conditions associated with geopolitical events; 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 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; the failure to evolve and transform our networks, systems and operations using next-generation technologies while lowering our cost structure, including the failure to transition from a traditional telecommunications company to a tech services and digital media company and meet customer expectations of product and service

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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 data governance framework; the failure to attract, develop and retain a diverse and 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 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 or maintain highly effective processes and IT systems; in-orbit and other operational risks to which the satellites used to provide our satellite TV services are subject; 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 dividends will be declared or the dividend on common shares will be increased by BCE's board of directors; 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; 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; reputational risks and the inability to meaningfully integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into our business strategy and operations; the failure to take appropriate actions to adapt to current and emerging environmental impacts, including

climate change; pandemics, epidemics and other health risks, including health concerns about radio frequency emissions from wireless communications devices and equipment; the inability to adequately manage social issues; the failure to develop and implement sufficient corporate governance practices; 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 (GHG) emissions reduction and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

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 2023 MD&A and, in particular, in section 9, Business risks of the BCE 2023 MD&A, on pages 88 to 98 of the BCE 2023 Annual Financial Report.

Forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Information Form for periods beyond 2024 involve longer-term assumptions and estimates than forward-looking statements for 2024 and are consequently subject to greater uncertainty. Forward-looking statements for periods beyond 2024 further assume, unless otherwise indicated, that the risks described above and in section 9, Business risks of the BCE 2023 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 7, 2024. 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.

1 Caution regarding forward-looking statements

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2 Corporate structure

2.1 Incorporation and registered office

structure

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.

2 Corporate

2.2 Subsidiaries

The table below shows BCE Inc.'s main subsidiaries at December 31, 2023, 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, 2023. 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, 2023.

	Percentage of voting securities held	(1)
Subsidiary	by BCE Inc. at December 31, 2023
Bell Canada	100%
Bell Mobility Inc.	100%
Bell Media Inc.	100%

1. At December 31, 2023, BCE Inc. directly held 94.1% of the voting securities of Bell Canada and indirectly held the remaining 5.9% through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bell MTS Inc. (Bell MTS). BCE Inc. indirectly held all the voting securities of: (i) Bell Mobility Inc. (Bell Mobility) through Bell Canada, which in turn indirectly held all the voting securities of Bell Mobility through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bell Mobility Holdings Inc.; and (ii) Bell Media Inc. (Bell Media) through Bell Canada.

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3 Description of our business

This section contains forward-lookingstatements, including relating to our anticipated capital expenditures and network deployment plans, our transformation initiatives and the benefits expected to result therefrom, the cost savings and other benefits expected to result from workforce reductions as well as estimated related severance payments, and our business outlook, objectives, plans and strategic priorities. Refer to section 1, Caution regarding forward-looking statements in this Annual Information Form.

3.1 General summary

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.

In 2022, we began modifying our internal and external reporting processes to align with organizational changes that were made to reflect an increasing strategic focus on multiproduct sales, the continually increasing technological convergence of our wireless and wireline telecommunications infrastructure and operations driven by the deployment of our Fifth Generation (5G) and fibre networks, and our digital transformation. These factors have made it increasingly difficult to distinguish between our wireless and wireline operations and resulted in changes in the first quarter of 2023 to the financial information that is regularly provided to our chief operating decision maker to measure performance and allocate resources.

Effective with our Q1 2023 results, our previous Bell Wireless and Bell Wireline operating segments were combined to form a single reporting segment called Bell Communication and Technology Services (Bell CTS). Bell Media remains a distinct reportable segment and is unaffected. Our results are therefore reported in two segments: Bell CTS and Bell Media. As a result of our reporting changes, prior periods have been restated for comparative purposes.

Our Bell CTS segment provides a wide range of communication products and services to consumers, businesses and government customers across Canada. Wireless products and services include mobile data and voice plans 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). Subsequent to year end, Bell Canada announced a strategic partnership with Best Buy Canada to operate 165 The Source consumer electronics retail stores in Canada, which will be rebranded as Best Buy Express and offer the latest in consumer electronics from Best Buy along with exclusive telecommunications services from Bell. In addition, Bell will wind down The Source head office and back office operations, as well as close 107 The Source stores.

Our Bell Media segment provides conventional TV, specialty TV, pay TV, streaming services, digital media services, radio broadcasting services and OOH and advanced advertising services 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 2023 MD&A, on pages 15 to 18 of the BCE 2023 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 2023 MD&A, on pages 60 and 61, and 65 and 66 of the BCE 2023 Annual Financial Report.

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

• a 37.5% indirect equity interest in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) (2), a sports and entertainment company that owns several sports teams, including the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts, as well as real estate and entertainment assets in Toronto;
• a 50% indirect equity interest in Glentel Inc. (Glentel), a Canadian- based connected services retailer;
• a 20.2% indirect equity interest in entities that operate the Montréal Canadiens Hockey Club, evenko (a promoter and producer of cultural and sports events) and the Bell Centre in Montréal, Québec, as well as Place Bell in Laval, Québec.

A discussion of the key transactions completed by BCE since 2021 can be found in section 4.1, Transactions of this Annual Information Form.

For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we generated consolidated operating revenues of $24,673 million and $24,174 million, respectively, and consolidated net earnings of $2,327 million and $2,926 million, respectively. 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). For the year ended December 31, 2022, Bell CTS' operating revenues totaled $21,301 million ($21,270 million external revenues) and Bell Media's operating revenues totaled $3,254 million ($2,904 million external revenues). A table showing the operating revenues that each segment contributed to total operating revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 can be found in section 4.3, Operating revenues of the BCE 2023 MD&A, on page 47 of the BCE 2023 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 2023 MD&A, on page 55 of the BCE 2023 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 2023 MD&A, on page 82 of the BCE 2023 Annual Financial Report.

3 Description of our business

(1) Based on total revenue and total combined customer connections.

(2) In January 2023, we repurchased the BCE Master Trust Fund's interest in MLSE for a cash consideration of $149 million, thereby increasing our indirect equity interest in MLSE from 28% to 37.5%.

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of our business

3.2 Strategic imperatives

BCE's purpose is to advance how Canadians connect with each other and the world. Our strategy builds on our longstanding 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 content creation 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	Drive growth with	Deliver the most
best networks	innovative services	compelling content

Champion customer	Operate with agility	Engage and invest in
experience	and cost efficiency	our people and create
		a sustainable future

3 Description

Additional information regarding our strategic imperatives can be found in section 2, Strategic imperatives of the BCE 2023 MD&A, on pages 35 to 38 of the BCE 2023 Annual Financial Report.

3.3 Our transformation from Telco to Techco

We have begun our journey to modernize from a traditional telecommunications company (telco) to a technology services and digital media company (collectively referred to as techco).

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

Our evolution to a techco takes a customer-first approach and specifically sets out to deliver incremental value to our customers:

• Ability for customers to enjoy our products, services, and content on any device in any location

• Enable customers to be served on their timeline through simple sales and support interactions across the channel of their choosing (e.g., online, call centre, store)
• Access to new and better products, services and solutions on an accelerated basis tailored to meet customers' evolving needs and expectations

To support and accelerate this evolution, we launched a multi-year operational transformation project to modernize our operations, increase productivity, build tech talent and materially right-size our cost base.

3.4 Competitive strengths

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:

• We are the largest local exchange carrier in Canada. BCE operates an extensive local access network in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba, as well as in Canada's Northern Territories. We provide a complete suite of wireless communications, wireline voice and data, including Internet access and TV, product and service offerings to residential, business and wholesale customers. We also own Bell Media, Canada's leading content creation company with premier assets in TV, radio and OOH, monetized through traditional and digital platforms.
• We also offer competitive local exchange carrier services in Alberta and British Columbia.
• At December 31, 2023, BCE was one of the largest wireless operators in Canada based on number of subscribers, providing 10,287,046 mobile phone subscribers with nationwide mobile voice and data

services. We also had 2,732,548 mobile connected device subscribers at December 31, 2023.

• BCE is the largest Internet service provider (ISP) in Canada based on number of subscribers, providing 4,473,429 retail customers at December 31, 2023 with high-speed Internet access through fibre- optic, wireless-to-the-premise (WTTP) and digital subscriber line (DSL) technology.
• BCE is one of the largest TV providers in Canada based on number of subscribers, nationally broadcasting a wide range of domestic and international programming to 2,725,292 retail subscribers at December 31, 2023 through its IPTV services, namely Fibe TV, the Fibe TV app and Virgin Plus TV, as well as its satellite TV service.
• BCE operated 2,021,617 retail residential network access service voice lines at December 31, 2023.
• Our business markets team maintains a leadership position, having established relationships with a majority of Canada's largest 100 corporations.

(1) Based on total revenue and total combined customer connections.

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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 growing 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 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 its 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 announced having secured the right to acquire 939 wireless spectrum licences in the recently completed 3800 MHz spectrum auction, covering 1.77 billion MHz per population (MHz-Pop) for $518 million. 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 86% of Canada's population at December 31, 2023, 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 51% of Canada's population at December 31, 2023. Refer to section 3.6, Networks - Wireless in this Annual Information Form for more details concerning our wireless networks.

For the third consecutive year, Bell 5G was ranked Canada's fastest and best 5G network by Global Wireless Solutions (GWS) in its 2023 nationwide assessment of 5G networks (1). New this year, GWS's testing included 3500 MHz network wireless spectrum and determined Bell's network (5G+) performance to be the fastest and best in the country.

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 will support new consumer and business applications in the coming years, including augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), artificial intelligence (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, our 5G network enabled the launch of TSN 5G View/Vision 5G RDS, an exclusive in-app feature that leverages Bell's 5G network to offer fans interactive new ways to watch sports. It was initially introduced with Montréal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs regional home game broadcasts, enabling fans to control the viewing angle of the game on their smartphones, getting up close to every goal, pass, hit and penalty with zoom, pause, rewind and slow motion capabilities. The feature was later expanded to Toronto Raptors home games and was expanded again in 2022 to Winnipeg Jets home games. In January 2023, we announced a partnership with Snap Inc. which introduced the first-ever 5G multi-user augmented

3 Description of our business

(1) Based on a third-party score (Global Wireless Solutions OneScore) calculated using Bell wireless 5G network testing in Canada against other national wireless networks from April 12, 2023 to October 27, 2023.

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3 Description of our business

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.

Bell also provides a number of solutions in the IoT sector, which enables 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-generationhigh-speed Internet and TV services

Our strategic imperative to build the best networks is focused on the expansion of our fibre network to more homes and business locations. At December 31, 2023, our fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) footprint covered more than 7 million homes and businesses in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba. Our fibre network enables the delivery of Bell's next-generationfibre-optichigh-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 300 Mbps. Refer to section 3.6, Networks - Wireline - High-speedfibre deployment in this Annual Information Form for more details concerning the deployment of our fibre-optichigh-speed Internet services.

Bell pure fibre Internet was awarded fastest in Canada in Ookla's Q3-Q4 2023 Speedtest Awards report (1), with the report also ranking Bell pure fibre Wi-Fi as fastest in the country - both for the second time in a row. Bell was named the Best Major & All Around ISP in PCMag's Best ISPs 2023 Canada report (2) and Bell recognitions also include BrandSpark's Most Trusted ISP 2023 and 2024 (3).

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 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 has become viable in rural

areas where it is uneconomical to deploy FTTP. In 2021, we completed the buildout of our Wireless Home Internet 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 Wireless Home Internet 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 2022, Bell introduced the new evolution of Fibe TV in Ontario and Québec with thousands of apps and powerful search options to make our customers' experience even better. With the latest Google Android TV technology, Fibe TV provides access to over 10,000 apps from Google Play. Viewers can 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

(1)	Based on analysis by Ookla of Speedtest Intelligence data Fixed and Wi-Fi nationally aggregated Speed Score results for Q3-Q4 2023. Ookla trademarks used under license and reprinted with permission.
(2)	PCMag Best ISPs 2023: Canada, based on speed, price, coverage and customer satisfaction comparing major and overall Canadian ISPs from June 1, 2022 to June 27, 2023.
(3)	BrandSpark is a research and consulting firm. Winners were determined by a national survey of 15,878 Canadian shoppers who gave their top-of-mind, unaided answers as to which brands they
	trust most and why in categories they have recently shopped.

8 BCE Inc. 2023 Annual Information Form