Benefits of Bell broadband fibre investment highlighted in CRTC report

Benefits of Bell broadband fibre investment highlighted in CRTC report


-- Speed testing shows fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) delivers Canada's best
Internet experience
-- Bell is Canada's leading builder of broadband fibre infrastructure,
providing superfast FTTH data connections, creating jobs, supporting
digital growth and innovation
MONTRÉAL, March 31, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - As Canada's leading builder of broadband network infrastructure, Bell welcomes the results of an Internet performance report commissioned by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), showing that fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections provide the best Internet service available in Canada today.

Released today, the CRTC report finds that Canadians are benefiting from broadband services from multiple providers that meet or exceed advertised speeds - and that FTTH outperforms all other wireline technologies, including the hybrid fibre coaxial cable connections provided by cable companies.

"Broadband FTTH supports very high speed Internet access for consumers and business while also enabling the ongoing development of exclusive product innovations from fast-growing new services like Bell Fibe TV and Fibe Internet," said Rizwan Jamal, President of Bell Residential and Small Business. "Canada's Internet providers deliver world-class broadband speeds and services. Longstanding government and regulatory policies that have encouraged investment in competing Canadian broadband networks must be maintained to ensure the ongoing deployment of FTTH and the outstanding access, speed and innovation it delivers."

The CRTC report is based on testing of broadband services available from Canada's 10 major wireline Internet service providers in late 2015. ISP-specific information is not available but results consistently show that FTTH networks like those operated by Bell in Ontario and Québec and Bell Aliant in Atlantic Canada provide:


-- Superfast download speeds, well in excess of advertised speeds
-- Superfast upload speeds, an increasingly important factor as consumers
share more and more data upstream
-- The most reliable connections, with the lowest latency rates and levels
of packet loss and the best web-browsing performance during both peak
and off-peak hours
No other Canadian communications company is investing more in new networks and product R&D than Bell. In addition to providing homes and businesses with access to high-quality broadband access, building new networks supports service innovation, creates jobs, spurs economic growth, and generates new digital opportunities for businesses and public service providers, including governments, schools and health care providers.

Bell plans to invest $1 billion in 2016 to extend the availability of its industry-leading Gigabit Fibe Internet service to approximately 3 million homes and businesses in Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Canada, up from approximately 2.2 million at the end of 2015. Every annual investment of $1 billion in FTTH deployment supports an estimated 19,000 jobs while contributing approximately $3 billion to Canada's GDP.

To learn more about the report please visit: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/reports/rp160317/rp160317.htm

About Bell

Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing consumers and business customers with wireless, TV, Internet, home phone, small business and enterprise communications services. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, digital and out of home media. Bell is wholly owned by Montréal's BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE). 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 community care and access, research, and workplace initiatives. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.

Media inquiries:
Jacqueline Michelis

613 785-1427
jacqueline.michelis@bell.ca

SOURCE Bell Canada

Bell Canada

Web Site: www.bell.ca


-------
Profile: intent