Unless otherwise indicated by us, forward-looking statements in this Annual Information Form describe our expectations as at March 4, 2021 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 including, without limitation, the future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which are difficult to predict, we believe that the assumptions on which the forward-looking statements made in this Annual Information Form are based were reasonable at March 4, 2021. Refer in particular to the sections of the BCE 2020 MD&A entitled Business outlook and assumptions on pages 54, 55, 70, 76, 77 and 82 of BCE’s annual report for the year ended December 31, 2020 (BCE 2020 Annual Report) for a discussion of certain key economic, market and operational assumptions we have made in preparing forward-looking statements. If our assumptions turn out to be inaccurate, our actual results 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 COVID-19 pandemic and the adverse effects from the emergency measures implemented or to be implemented as a result thereof, as well as other pandemic, epidemic and other health risks; adverse economic and financial market conditions, a declining level of retail and commercial activity, and the resulting negative impact on the demand for, and prices of, our products and services; the intensity of competitive activity including from new and emerging competitors; the level of technological substitution and the presence of alternative service providers contributing to the acceleration of disruptions and disintermediation in each of our business segments; changing viewer habits and the expansion of over-the-top (OTT) television (TV) and other alternative service providers, as well as the fragmentation of, and changes in, the advertising market; rising content costs and challenges in our ability to acquire or develop key content; the proliferation of content piracy; higher Canadian smartphone penetration and reduced or slower immigration flow; regulatory initiatives, proceedings and decisions, government consultations and government positions that affect us and influence our business; 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 transform our operations, enabling a truly customer-centric service experience, while lowering our cost structure; the failure to continue investment in next-generation capabilities in a disciplined and strategic manner; the inability to drive a positive customer experience; the complexity in our operations; the failure to maintain operational networks in the context of significant increases in capacity demands; the risk that we may need to incur significant capital expenditures to provide additional capacity and reduce network congestion; the failure to implement or maintain highly effective information technology (IT) systems; the failure to generate anticipated benefits from our corporate restructurings, system replacements and upgrades, process redesigns, staff reductions and the integration of business acquisitions; events affecting the functionality of, and our ability to protect, test, maintain, replace and upgrade, our networks, IT systems, equipment and other facilities; in-orbit and other operational risks to which the satellites used to provide our satellite TV services are subject; the failure to attract and retain employees with the appropriate skill sets and to drive their

performance in a safe environment; labour disruptions and shortages; our dependence on third-party suppliers, outsourcers and consultants to provide an uninterrupted supply of the products and services we need to operate our business; the failure of our vendor selection, governance and oversight processes; security and data leakage exposure if security control protocols affecting our suppliers are bypassed; the quality of our products and services and the extent to which they may be subject to manufacturing defects or fail to comply with applicable government regulations and standards; 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 by BCE’s board of directors or whether the dividend on common shares will be increased; the inability to manage various credit, liquidity and market risks; pension obligation volatility and increased contributions to post-employment benefit plans; 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 failure to reduce costs, as well as unexpected increases in costs; the failure to evolve practices to effectively monitor and control fraudulent activities; unfavourable resolution of legal proceedings and, in particular, class actions; new or unfavourable changes in applicable laws and the failure to proactively address our legal and regulatory obligations; the failure to recognize and adequately respond to climate change concerns or stakeholder and governmental changing expectations on environmental matters; and health concerns about radiofrequency emissions from wireless communication devices and equipment.

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 2020 MD&A and, in particular, in section 9, Business risks of the BCE 2020 MD&A, on pages 103 to 110 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report.

Forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Information Form for periods beyond 2021 involve longer-term assumptions and estimates than forward-looking statements for 2021 and are consequently subject to greater uncertainty. In particular, the nature and value of capital investments planned to be made by BCE over the next two years assume our ability to access or generate the necessary sources of capital as well as access the necessary equipment and labour. However, there can be no assurance that the required sources of capital, equipment or labour will be available with the result that the actual nature and value of capital investments made by BCE, as well as the timing thereof, could materially differ from current expectations. Forward-looking statements for periods beyond 2021 further assume, unless otherwise indicated, that the competitive, regulatory, security, technological, operational, financial and other risks described above and in section 9, Business risks of the BCE 2020 MD&A will remain substantially unchanged during such periods, except for an assumed improvement in the risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic and general economic conditions in future years.

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. From time to time, we 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 4, 2021. 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 or 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, 2020, 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, 2020. 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, 2020.

COVID-19

The emergency measures put in place in Canada starting in March 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted retail and commercial activities across most sectors of the economy and had an adverse and pervasive impact on our financial and operating performance throughout most of 2020. Consequently, this unfavourably affected all three of our segments, with a more pronounced impact on our Bell Wireless and Bell Media segments. The most significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was experienced in the second quarter of 2020. The gradual easing of certain emergency measures in the latter part of the second quarter allowed many businesses to resume some level of, or increase, commercial activities, resulting in a marked sequential improvement in our business and financial performance in the third quarter. However, starting in late September, due to the resurgence in the number of COVID-19 cases, government restrictions were gradually tightened and became more severe in late December, resulting in the closure of all non-essential businesses and the reintroduction of lockdown measures in certain areas. This drove lower consumer activity during key selling periods. For more information on the principal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and financial results in 2020, refer to section 1, Overview – COVID-19 of the BCE 2020 MD&A, on page 32 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our response has been guided by three operating principles: keep Canadians connected and informed; protect the health and safety of the public, our customers and team; and support our customers and communities. Despite unprecedented demand across our networks due to the pandemic, we have maintained service availability at 99.99+% throughout the crisis; introduced innovative tactics focused on customer experience, including

equipping 12,000 call centre agents to work from home, retraining thousands of team members as service agents and introducing innovative remote installation practices; and launched enhanced online and appointment-based sales options. Our business markets team has further responded to a variety of COVID-19-related special requests from government instances of various types but specifically in relation to civil servants teleworking, various bandwidth augmentations, and testing centre and vaccination clinic setups, as well as supporting the establishment of various call centres dedicated to supporting Canadians in these difficult times. As part of its support for Canadian communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bell Let’s Talk also announced new funding for frontline mental health providers, including Canadian Red Cross, Canadian Mental Health Association, Kids Help Phone, Revivre and Strongest Families Institute.

Due to uncertainties relating to the severity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the current resurgence and possible future resurgences in the number of COVID-19 cases, and various potential outcomes, it is difficult at this time to estimate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business or future financial results and related assumptions. Our business and financial results could continue to be significantly and negatively impacted in future periods. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to adversely impact us will depend on future developments that are difficult to predict, including the effective distribution of approved vaccines and treatments, and the potential development and distribution of new vaccines and treatments, as well as new information which may emerge concerning the severity, duration and resurgences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions required to contain the coronavirus or remedy its impacts, among others.

BCE is Canada’s largest communications company, providing residential, business and wholesale customers with a wide range of solutions for all their communications needs. Our results are reported in three segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline and Bell Media.

Bell Wireless provides wireless voice and data communication products and services to our residential, small and medium-sized business and large enterprise customers as well as consumer electronic products across Canada.

Bell Wireline provides data, including Internet access and Internet protocol television (IPTV), local telephone, long distance, as well as other communication services and products 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.

Bell Media provides conventional TV, specialty TV, pay TV, streaming services, digital media services, radio broadcasting services and

out-of-home (OOH) advertising services to customers nationally across Canada.

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 2020 MD&A, on pages 35 to 38 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report.

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

A discussion of the key acquisitions, investments and dispositions completed by BCE in the last three financial years can be found in section 4.1, Transactions of this Annual Information Form.

For the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, we generated consolidated operating revenues of $22,883 million and $23,793 million, respectively, and consolidated net earnings of $2,699 million and $3,253 million, respectively. Consolidated net earnings for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 include $226 million and $29 million, respectively, of net earnings from discontinued operations. For the year ended December 31, 2020, Bell Wireless’ operating revenues totalled $8,683 million ($8,630 million external revenues), Bell Wireline’s operating revenues totalled $12,206 million ($11,884 million external revenues) and Bell Media’s operating revenues totalled $2,750 million ($2,369 million external revenues). For the year ended December 31, 2019, Bell Wireless’ operating revenues totalled $9,001 million ($8,946 million external revenues), Bell Wireline’s operating revenues totalled $12,317 million ($12,036 million external revenues) and Bell Media’s operating revenues totalled $3,217 million ($2,811 million external revenues). A table showing

the operating revenues that each segment contributed to total operating revenues for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 can be found in section 4.3, Operating revenues of the BCE 2020 MD&A, on page 61 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report. A table showing the operating revenues of our Bell Wireless and Bell Wireline segments by category of product and service can be found in section 5.1, Bell Wireless and section 5.2, Bell Wireline of the BCE 2020 MD&A, on pages 67 and 73, respectively, of the BCE 2020 Annual 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 2020 MD&A, on page 98 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report.

Additional information regarding the business outlook of our Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline and Bell Media segments can be found in the sections entitled Business outlook and assumptions of the BCE 2020 MD&A, on pages 54, 55, 70, 76, 77 and 82 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report.

BCE’s goal is to advance how Canadians connect with each other and the world. Our strategic imperatives frame our longstanding strengths in networks, service innovation and content creation, and position the company for continued growth and innovation leadership in a fast-changing communications marketplace. 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 premier 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 both 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. The six strategic imperatives that underlie BCE’s business plan are:

Additional information regarding our strategic imperatives can be found in section 2, Strategic imperatives of the BCE 2020 MD&A, on pages 49 to 53 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report.

CANADA’S LARGEST COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY

We are Canada’s largest communications company, offering a wide range of telecommunications products and services, as described below:

Our scale, due to a 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 3.4, Marketing and distribution channels in this Annual Information Form, give us a key competitive advantage. With a wireless network service footprint that encompasses more than 99% of the Canadian 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.

On February 4, 2021, we announced a capital investment acceleration of an additional $1 billion to $1.2 billion over the next two years to advance our direct fibre, Wireless Home Internet and 5G wireless network rollouts. We plan to increase the number of new locations covered with direct fibre and Wireless Home Internet service by as many as 900,000 in 2021, while doubling the national coverage of our 5G network to approximately 50% of the Canadian population.

TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED WIRELESS NETWORKS

AND SERVICES

Our Bell Wireless segment provides wireless services over technologically advanced wireless networks that are available to virtually all of the Canadian population. We offer a broad range of wireless voice and data communications products and services to residential and business customers through our Bell brand, as well as our Virgin Mobile 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.

Wireless is a key growth segment for us, and we have established strategic priorities seeking to further enhance our offerings. We are focused on maintaining our market share of national operators’ wireless postpaid net customer activations, continuing to grow our prepaid subscriber base, increasing adoption of unlimited data plans and device financing plans, 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 national high-speed packet access plus (HSPA+) network, our fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) wireless network service (which reached more than 99% of the Canadian population as at December 31, 2020), our Dual-band, Tri-band and Quad-band LTE Advanced (LTE-A) network service (our Dual-band LTE-A network service reached approximately 96% of the Canadian population at December 31, 2020), and our new 5G wireless 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.

In 2018, Bell rolled out its enhanced Gigabit LTE-A network to core locations in Toronto and Kingston, and has since expanded to more areas as smartphones that support these advanced speeds have come to market. To boost LTE-A speeds to the gigabit level, Bell is employing a combination of carrier aggregation and 4X4 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology to increase spectrum efficiency and multiply capacity. Gigabit LTE-A is available in select cities across Canada. Bell also launched in 2018 a new 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 lower costs for IoT devices connecting to Bell’s national network. Our LTE-M network is available in most Canadian provinces.

In June 2020, Bell launched its 5G wireless network, offering enhanced mobile data speeds and the latest 5G-capable smartphones. Earlier in the year, we had announced our first 5G network equipment supplier agreement with long-time partner Nokia Corporation (Nokia) and, in June 2020, we further announced that Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) would provide radio access network (RAN) equipment for Bell’s national 5G wireless network. As with previous wireless and wireline network deployments, Bell is working with multiple equipment suppliers for its 5G rollout. Bell’s 5G network covered 26% of Canada’s population at the end of 2020. The high capacity and near instant connections offered by mobile 5G will support a virtually unlimited range of new consumer and business applications in coming years, including virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning, immersive entertainment services, connected vehicles, smart cities and enhanced rural access, and unprecedented IoT opportunities for business and government enterprises. As part of the capital investment acceleration we announced on February 4, 2021, Bell plans to double the national coverage of our 5G network to approximately 50% of the Canadian population in 2021.

In 2020, Bell was ranked Canada’s fastest mobile network provider in PCMag’s Fastest Mobile Networks Canada 2020, its annual study of network performance across the country. PCMag’s testers drove around 20 Canadian cities, large and small, and also tested rural speeds in parts of Ontario, Québec and Saskatchewan. Testing both 5G and 4G networks, PCMag’s analysis took place in September and October 2020 and ranked providers based on a weighted average of download speeds, upload speeds, latency and reliability.

Bell is working with a range of leading global and domestic 5G partners, including Ericsson and Nokia, to accelerate Canada’s 5G innovation ecosystem. This includes continued investment in research and development at Canadian institutions, such as a partnership between Western University and Bell to create a new academic centre for research into 5G applications across health (including mental health), agriculture, transportation, manufacturing and other sectors, and a partnership with Université de Sherbrooke whereby Bell’s advanced 5G wireless communication systems will be installed at the Interdisciplinary Institute for Technological Innovation (3IT) to enable research projects to further develop technology in a broad range of sectors including IoT, Smart Campus / Smart City, innovative manufacturing and smart energy management. On the international stage, Bell is involved in the setting of global 5G standards with our participation in the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) consortium and Third Generation Partnership Program (3GPP).

PROVIDING SOLUTIONS IN INNOVATIVE INTERNET

OF THINGS SECTOR

Bell provides a number of solutions in the fast-growing 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 the following:

NEXT-GENERATION HIGH-SPEED INTERNET

AND TV SERVICES

Our strategic imperative to build the best networks is focused on the expansion of our all-fibre network to more homes and business locations. At December 31, 2020, our fibre-to-the-premise (FTTP) broadband fibre network covered approximately 5.6 million premises (homes and business locations), and our combined FTTP and fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) broadband fibre network covered approximately 9.9 million premises in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba. It enables the delivery of Bell’s next-generation fibre-optic high-speed Internet service marketed as Fibe Internet, offering total download access speeds of up to 1.5 gigabits per second (Gbps) with FTTP through our Gigabit Fibe 1.5 service, or download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps) with FTTN. It also enables the delivery of our Internet service marketed as Virgin Mobile Home Internet, offering download speeds of up to 100 Mbps. 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.

As Bell quickly extends its direct fibre links in urban and suburban centres, we are also delivering broadband speeds to smaller towns and rural locations with our innovative Wireless Home Internet fixed wireless service. 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. Based on 5G-capable WTTP technology, our buildout of Wireless Home Internet approached 50% of our target of 1 million locations at the end of 2020. Already delivering download speeds of up to 25 Mbps, Bell increased its Wireless Home Internet service’s Internet download speeds to up to 50 Mbps and uploads to 10 Mbps (50/10) in the fall of 2020, which enhanced speeds are now available to a majority of customers. As part of the capital investment acceleration we announced on February 4, 2021, Bell plans to increase the number of new locations covered with direct fibre and Wireless Home Internet by as many as 900,000 in 2021.

Our FTTP and FTTN broadband fibre network also enables the delivery of Bell’s next-generation IPTV services, namely Fibe TV, Alt TV and Virgin TV. Bell’s IPTV services target areas where cable providers had long been dominant, providing us with the opportunity to gain significant market share through offering a comprehensive multi-product bundle of communications services to customers.

Bell’s Fibe TV service, built on a next-generation 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 five additional TVs anywhere in the home 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 and YouTube directly from customer TV receivers, providing a seamless experience.

We also offer the Bell Fibe TV app, which brings the rich Fibe TV viewing experience to laptops, smartphones, tablets, 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, and allows customers to control their TVs with their mobile devices. 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.

We also offer the Alt TV service in Ontario and Québec, an app-based live TV streaming service that offers live and on-demand programming. With no traditional TV set-top box required, Alt TV is accessed through the Fibe TV app and offers up to 500 live and on-demand channels on laptops, smartphones, tablets, Bell Streamer, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google Chromecast and a variety of Android TV devices. Alt TV offers access to two TV streams at a time and customers can add individual channels to build their own Alt TV packages. Like Bell’s Fibe TV service, Alt TV 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.

In July 2020, we launched Virgin TV, a completely new way for Virgin Internet members in Ontario and Québec to watch live and on-demand TV shows and live sports on any screen they want. Virgin TV is an app-based service that does not require a traditional TV set-top box or installation, and it works on virtually all devices – iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, laptops, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Google Chromecast. Available at the App Store and Google Play, the Virgin 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 August 2020, Bell launched the Bell Streamer, a new all-in-one 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR) streaming device powered by Android TV that offers customers in Ontario and Québec all-in-one access to Alt TV, support for all major streaming services and access to thousands of apps on Google Play.

NATIONAL WIRELINE SERVICE PROVIDER WITH

MARKET LEADERSHIP POSITION

Our leadership 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 stand-alone basis, and allows us to improve customer retention.

Our business markets team maintains a leadership position, having established relationships with a majority of Canada’s largest 100 corporations. Our team continues to deliver network-centric business service solutions to large business and public sector clients, and we introduced the following new services in 2020:

OUR SIGNIFICANT MEDIA ASSETS

Bell Media’s range of video 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, radio, digital media and OOH advertising 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 pay TV 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 2020 MD&A, on page 51 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report, for a description of certain agreements entered into and initiatives launched in 2020 by Bell Media.

BELL WIRELESS AND BELL WIRELINE

The guiding principle driving our marketing strategy is to offer our clients the ultimate in reliable, simple and accessible telecommunications 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 TV, print, radio, 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.

Specifically for Bell Wireless, acquiring and retaining postpaid and prepaid 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. Since June 2019, we offer unlimited plans featuring unlimited data access with no overage charges. In July 2019, we also introduced SmartPay device financing plans that let Bell Mobility customers buy their new smartphones with 24 interest-free installments separate from their service plan. In May 2020, we similarly introduced Sweet Pay device financing plans for Virgin Mobile Canada (Virgin Mobile) 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. 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. Research has shown that a key driver of customer acquisition is handset selection and style. Our current wireless device portfolio includes many leading-edge devices, some launched as exclusive to Bell in the Canadian market. 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 deliver our products and services to residential wireless and wireline customers through:

We also offer customers the convenience of One Bill for Internet, TV, home phone, wireless and smart home services.

For small business customers, our residential and small business team offers a wide range of wireline services, including Business Fibe Internet, Bell Total Connect, Business Phone and TV, along with many other communications solutions, all designed for companies that typically have fewer than 20 employees. Small business 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.

In 2020, communications solutions for medium-sized business and large enterprise customers, other than wireless, were delivered by our business markets team and our products and services were sold through dedicated sales representatives, call centres, 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 procuring both medium-sized business and 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 and broadcasts, voice and unified communications, customer contact centre and security solutions.

In 2020, our wireless products and services were delivered to business customers, including small business customers, through the same channels as those previously described for services to residential customers. In addition, Bell’s business customers were served by our nationwide sales team responsible for the sale of wireless products and services to business customers, as well as the execution of sales contracts.

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.

Emergency measures taken by Canadian governments starting in March 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic have included the temporary closure of non-essential businesses, including most locations in our retail distribution channels. The gradual easing of certain of these measures starting in the latter part of the second quarter allowed the reopening of our retail distribution channels, which stimulated wireless and wireline subscriber activity and wireless product sales. However, traffic to our retail locations did not reach pre-pandemic levels. In addition, starting in late September, due to the resurgence in the number of COVID-19 cases, government restrictions were gradually tightened and became more severe in late December, resulting in the closure of all non-essential businesses, including most retail locations, and the reintroduction of lockdown measures in certain areas. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we enhanced online and phone sales and support, equipped 12,000 call centre agents to work from home, retrained thousands of team members as service agents and introduced innovative remote installation practices. We also encouraged customers to take advantage of MyBell online and mobile self-serve options and launched enhanced online and appointment-based sales options. The sales team further moved to virtual meetings for business customers and handled sales remotely to minimize or eliminate, as applicable, contact with customers in accordance with government guidelines.

BELL MEDIA

Bell Media’s video and OOH customer base is comprised primarily of large advertising agencies, which place advertisements with Bell Media on behalf of their customers. Bell Media also has contracts with a variety of broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs), under which monthly subscription fees for specialty TV, pay TV and streaming services are earned. Bell Media’s radio broadcast customer base is comprised of both advertising agencies and businesses in local markets.

Bell Media’s conventional TV networks are delivered to Canadians through over-the-air broadcast transmission and through distribution by BDUs. Bell Media’s specialty TV, pay TV channels and streaming services are delivered through distribution arrangements with BDUs, and its radio programming is distributed through over-the-air transmission. In addition to these primary distribution channels, Bell Media also distributes its video and radio programming through a variety of non-traditional means, such as mobile and Internet streaming (iHeartRadio). 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 and online at Crave.ca. Crave is also available directly via the Internet at Crave.ca, and via the Crave app. Crave can be streamed on the web and partner platforms such as iOS, Apple TV, Android mobile, Android TV, Xbox One, Samsung Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku and PS4/5. 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.

In 2015, we launched a project seeking to transform our networks, systems and processes with three main objectives: (a) to become more agile in our service delivery and operations, including self-serve and instant-on capabilities for our customers; (b) to ensure best quality and best customer experience; and (c) to develop a new network infrastructure that enables a competitive cost structure with rapidly growing capacity needs, and enabling new revenue opportunities. We are leveraging new technologies, including network functions virtualization, software-defined networks and cloud technologies. These

technologies offer unprecedented levels of flexibility, automation and elastic capacity: 5G, IoT, enhanced Internet, communication and video services, as well as the next generation of enterprise cloud applications, all depend heavily on these capabilities. We work closely with our partners and are leveraging these connections by contributing to industry associations that are accelerating this evolution, such as the open source software and hardware initiatives. We are also focusing on transforming our organization and some key development and operational processes to meet our objectives.

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.

HSPA+ NETWORK

Our wireless HSPA+ network offered high-speed mobile access to 99% of the Canadian population at December 31, 2020, 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. Bell supports international roaming to over 230 outbound destinations (196 of them also supporting 4G LTE). 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 in that all Bell LTE devices support both networks.

Our LTE wireless network reached more than 99% of the Canadian population coast-to-coast at December 31, 2020 with theoretical peak download speeds of up to 150 Mbps, with expected average download speeds of 18 to 40 Mbps. LTE currently accounts for over 95% of our total wireless data traffic.

On April 30, 2019, Bell completed the previously announced shutdown of its legacy 3G code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and customers in CDMA coverage areas were transitioned to Bell’s 4G LTE network. The shutdown of Bell’s CDMA network enables Bell to “re-farm” additional low band spectrum for 5G services and to repurpose existing structures, fibre connections and power systems to further enhance its next-generation LTE networks.

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 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.

Since 2017, Bell’s LTE network is capable of delivering Quad-band LTE-A service. Quad-band technology leverages multiple 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. Quad-band LTE-A now offers theoretical mobile data peak download speeds of up to 1.5 Gbps in select markets like Kingston (expected average download speeds of 25 to 319 Mbps).

At December 31, 2020, Bell’s LTE-A network provided service to approximately 96% of the population in Canada. In addition, our Quad-band service had expanded to over 60% of Canadians at December 31, 2020.

LTE-M NETWORK

In 2018, Bell launched a new LTE-M network, which is a subset of our LTE network supporting low-power IoT applications with enhanced coverage, longer device battery life and lower costs for IoT devices connecting to Bell’s national network. In 2019, Bell announced an expanded reciprocal roaming partnership with AT&T Inc. (AT&T) to provide Canadian business customers with access to AT&T’s LTE-M network across the United States. The reciprocal agreement 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

In June 2020, Bell launched its 5G wireless network, offering enhanced mobile data speeds and the latest 5G-capable smartphones. Bell’s 5G network covered 26% of Canada’s population at December 31, 2020. The high capacity and near instant connections offered by mobile 5G will support a virtually unlimited range of new consumer and business applications in coming years, including virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning, connected vehicles, smart cities and enhanced rural access, and unprecedented IoT opportunities for business and government enterprises.

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) and Seattle in the United States.

Our network in major Canadian cities provides state-of-the-art high-speed access at 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.

To improve reliability and increase network capacity to support the rapidly growing volumes of wireless and Internet usage carried on our networks, for several years we have been upgrading all of our fibre-based national backbone network with the deployment of 100 gigabit technologies. To satisfy continued traffic growth, in 2018 Bell started the next phase of the national backbone network upgrade with the deployment of 200 gigabit dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technologies, which will be able to support up to 1 terabit in the future. Key traffic routes span more than 25,000 kilometres across Canada and into the United States.

HIGH-SPEED FIBRE DEPLOYMENT

Our strategic imperative to build the best networks is focused on the expansion of our all-fibre network to more homes and business locations. Over the past few years, we have upgraded our access infrastructure by deploying fibre closer to our customers using FTTN with pair bonding technology, and overlaying legacy copper and FTTN with FTTP. 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 Mobile Home Internet, is enabled by our FTTP and FTTN networks.

In 2017, Bell announced an $854 million investment to bring FTTP to 1.1 million residences and business locations throughout Montréal, representing the largest-ever communications infrastructure project in Québec. Bell’s broadband FTTP network enables our Gigabit Fibe Internet service, which was available in 37% of locations in Montréal at December 31, 2020. Montréal will join a growing number of centres across Québec that are fully wired with Bell fibre, including Québec City.

In 2018, Bell launched its all-fibre optic broadband network in Toronto, enabling gigabit Internet speeds, advanced TV and business connectivity to a majority of homes and business locations in that city. In addition, Bell announced the expansion of FTTP direct fibre connections throughout the populous and fast-growing Greater Toronto Area/905 region surrounding Toronto. Bell’s fibre plan will deliver gigabit Internet speeds and other broadband Fibe service innovations to approximately 1.3 million homes and businesses in the region.

In 2018, Bell also announced the increase of Fibe Internet access speeds to up to 1.5 Gbps. Unlimited Gigabit Fibe 1.5 service is now available in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba. Delivered over Bell’s FTTP network and leveraging the powerful Home Hub 3000 modem/router already used by most Bell FTTP customers, the enhanced Internet service offers total download access speeds of up to 1.5 Gbps and uploads of up to 940 Mbps.

On January 23, 2020, we announced an investment of approximately $400 million to expand broadband Internet access in urban and rural areas of Hamilton, including a plan to bring direct fibre network connections to more than 200,000 homes and business locations throughout the city. On March 2, 2020, we announced an investment of approximately $400 million to bring FTTP technology to Winnipeg, with direct fibre connections to approximately 275,000 homes and businesses throughout the city.

Over the past few years, several direct fibre deployment projects were also announced in a number of communities. In 2020, new investments were announced to bring high-speed Internet to approximately 1,800 locations in Flin Flon, approximately 800 locations in the Town of LaSalle and approximately 3,300 locations in the City of Morden, all in the province of Manitoba. In addition, in May 2020, Bell announced new projects to bring high-speed Internet to unserved regions of Québec in partnership with the Québec government’s Régions branchées program. These projects will provide all-fibre Internet connections to approximately 7,000 homes, businesses and other organizations in 18 communities across Québec.

As at December 31, 2020, approximately 5.6 million homes and businesses across Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba had the capability of receiving up to 1.5 Gigabit Fibe service.

In addition to our Fibe Internet service, we offer Home Internet under the Virgin Mobile brand for customers in Ontario and Québec. This high-speed Internet service offers existing Virgin Mobile customers download speeds of up to 100 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 10 Mbps together with large monthly data bandwidth limits.

Additionally, we continue to deploy our next-generation IPTV services in areas in Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba where cable providers had long been dominant. As of December 31, 2020, our IPTV services had the capacity to service approximately 8.7 million homes in major cities and municipalities across Ontario, Québec, the Atlantic provinces and Manitoba.

WTTP

Following successful WTTP trials in the 3.5 GHz band using 8T8R and MIMO radio technologies, Bell began the buildout of WTTP to rural locations in the second quarter of 2018. At the end of 2019, Bell’s WTTP footprint, enabling its Wireless Home Internet broadband service, encompassed 226 communities covering approximately 250,000 homes, complementing Bell’s FTTP network.

In April 2020, as part of its response to the COVID-19 crisis, Bell announced the acceleration of its Wireless Home Internet rollout in rural Canada to approximately 137,000 additional homes by the end of April 2020. In addition, Bell expanded its Wireless Home Internet rollout to rural communities throughout the Atlantic provinces starting in the fall of 2020. At the end of 2020, Bell’s WTTP footprint approached 50% of its target of 1 million locations in smaller towns and rural communities.

WTTP is fixed wireless technology that will take full advantage of 5G to deliver high-speed Internet service to residents in smaller and underserved communities. Already delivering download speeds of up to 25 Mbps, Bell increased its Wireless Home Internet service’s Internet download speeds to up to 50 Mbps and uploads to 10 Mbps (50/10) in the fall of 2020, which enhanced speeds are now available to a majority of customers. Innovation in WTTP complements Bell’s extensive broadband fibre build 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 Wireless Home Internet 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 (Telesat). Pursuant to a set of commercial arrangements between Bell ExpressVu Limited Partnership (Bell ExpressVu) and Telesat, Bell ExpressVu currently has two satellites under contract with Telesat. Telesat operates or directs the operation of these satellites, which are used by Bell ExpressVu to provide its satellite TV service.

The table below shows the number of BCE employees at December 31, 2020 and 2019.

Approximately 41% of BCE employees were represented by unions and were covered by collective agreements at December 31, 2020.

The following collective agreements covering 250 or more employees were ratified in 2020 or early 2021:

The following collective agreements covering 250 or more employees will expire in 2021:

The following describes the status of collective agreements covering 250 or more employees that have already expired:

GENERAL

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices form an integral part of BCE’s corporate responsibility approach. Since its founding in 1880, Bell has been the Canadian leader in telecommunications and today our goal is to advance how Canadians connect with each other and the world. We take very seriously our responsibility to manage the company in ways that enable us to sustain our record of serving the personal and business communications needs of millions of customers, seek to create value for shareholders, provide meaningful careers for tens of thousands of people, and make a significant contribution to the broader Canadian community and economy.

BCE has implemented a range of ESG policies that are supported by various programs and initiatives. These policies address issues of importance to our many stakeholders, including: 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 diverse and safe workplace; and protecting the environment.

These BCE policies include, among others, the following:

We report annually on our corporate responsibility performance and our ESG practices in our Corporate Responsibility Report, available at BCE.ca. The report, together with the information and documents available in the Responsibility section of BCE’s website, presents Bell’s corporate responsibility performance. We report on the ESG topics that are of greatest importance to our stakeholders and which could have a relevant impact on our business. These include diversity and inclusion, mental health in the workplace and the community through our Bell Let’s Talk mental health initiative, the environment, climate change and waste management. In our Corporate Responsibility Report, we describe how we manage these topics and we also report on our performance against targets we have set for ourselves. It has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards-Core option and adheres to the principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). It describes actions we have taken to implement these guidelines and principles, and serves as our Communication on Progress (COP), as required for all companies that endorse the UNGC. In addition, we report on select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) indicators and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Furthermore, BCE supports and reports on the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which has developed voluntary and consistent climate-related risks and opportunities disclosures.

Additional information regarding our corporate governance and risk management practices, as well as our corporate responsibility strategy, including our contribution to community, society, team members and the environment, can be found in section 1.5, Corporate governance and risk management and section 1.6, Environmental, social and governance practices of the BCE 2020 MD&A, on pages 41 to 48 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report.

ENVIRONMENT

Environmental protection is 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 the environmental legislation that applies to us, to preventing pollution and promoting cost-effective initiatives that minimize use of resources and waste. 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 environmental requirements and standards, and take action seeking to prevent and correct problems when needed. We have an environmental management and review system in place that:

Since 2009, Bell Canada maintains an environmental management system certified to ISO 14001 standard. This certification covers Bell Canada’s oversight of the environmental management system associated with the development of policies and procedures for the delivery of landline, wireless, TV and Internet services, broadband and connectivity services, data hosting, cloud computing, radio broadcasting and digital media services, along with related administrative functions. In addition, in 2020, our energy management system was certified to be ISO 50001-compliant, making us the first North American telecommunications company to be so designated. This certification covers the corporate level administrative management activities related to Bell Canada’s energy management program 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, 2020, we spent $39.5 million on environmental activities, 53% of which was expensed and 47% of which was for capital expenditures. For 2021, we have budgeted $32.3 million (56% for expenses and 44% for capital expenditures) to seek to ensure that our Environmental Policy is applied properly and that our environmental risks are minimized.

Additional information regarding our environmental protection activities can be found in section 1.6, Environmental, social and governance practices of the BCE 2020 MD&A, on pages 44 to 48 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report.

A discussion of our competitive environment can be found in section 3.2, Principal business risks and the various subsections entitled Competitive landscape and industry trends and Principal business

risks of the BCE 2020 MD&A, on pages 55 to 58, 69 to 71, 75 and 76, 78, 80 and 81, and 83 of the BCE 2020 Annual Report.

See also section 3.3, Competitive strengths in this Annual Information Form for more information concerning our competitive position.

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 2020 MD&A, on pages 99 to 102 of the BCE 2020 Annual 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.

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.

NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID FOR BCE FIRST

PREFERRED SHARES

On November 5, 2020, BCE announced a normal course issuer bid (NCIB) to purchase for cancellation up to 10% of the public float of each series of BCE’s outstanding Preferred Shares that are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). The NCIB will extend from November 9, 2020 to November 8, 2021, or an earlier date should BCE complete its purchases under the NCIB.

Under the NCIB, BCE is authorized to repurchase up to 800,000 Series R Preferred Shares, 351,344 Series S Preferred Shares, 448,655 Series T Preferred Shares, 808,149 Series Y Preferred Shares, 191,850 Series Z Preferred Shares, 1,139,839 Series AA Preferred Shares, 860,015 Series AB Preferred Shares, 1,002,969 Series AC Preferred Shares, 997,030 Series AD Preferred Shares, 651,531 Series AE Preferred Shares, 948,468 Series AF Preferred Shares, 498,535 Series AG Preferred Shares, 901,464 Series AH Preferred Shares, 594,988 Series AI Preferred Shares, 805,011 Series AJ Preferred Shares, 2,274,592 Series AK Preferred Shares, 225,407 Series AL Preferred Shares, 954,661 Series

AM Preferred Shares, 195,338 Series AN Preferred Shares, 460,000 Series AO Preferred Shares and 920,000 Series AQ Preferred Shares, representing approximately 10% of the public float in respect of each series of Preferred Shares.

BCE is making this NCIB because it believes that, from time to time, the Preferred Shares may trade in price ranges that do not fully reflect their value. BCE believes that, in such circumstances, the repurchase of its Preferred Shares represents an appropriate use of its available funds.

The NCIB may be conducted through a combination of discretionary transactions and purchases under an automatic securities purchase plan through the facilities of the TSX or alternative trading systems, if eligible, and by such other means as may be permitted by the TSX and under applicable laws. The number of Preferred Shares purchased under the NCIB is subject to the limitations set out by the TSX. At December 31, 2020, BCE had repurchased and cancelled an aggregate of 41,400 Preferred Shares under this NCIB.

COMPLETION OF NORMAL COURSE ISSUER BID FOR

BCE COMMON SHARES

On February 8, 2018, BCE announced a NCIB program under which BCE could purchase for cancellation up to 3.5 million common shares, subject to a maximum aggregate purchase price of $175 million, during the twelve-month period starting February 13, 2018 and ending no later

than February 12, 2019. On March 13, 2018, BCE completed its NCIB program, having repurchased and cancelled 3,085,697 common shares, at an average price of $56.71 per share, for a total cost of $175 million. The repurchase of common shares was conducted for the purpose of offsetting share dilution resulting from the exercise of stock options.

Refer to the sections of the BCE 2018 MD&A and BCE 2019 MD&A, contained in the BCE 2018 Annual Report and BCE 2019 Annual 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, 2018 and December 31, 2019 that have influenced the general development of our business in 2018 and 2019. Refer to the sections of the BCE 2020

MD&A, contained in the BCE 2020 Annual 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, 2020 that have influenced the general development of our business in 2020, and the priorities we intend to focus on in 2021.

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 Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (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 mandatory access to networks, spectrum auctions,

the imposition of consumer-related codes of conduct, approval of acquisitions, broadcast and spectrum licensing, foreign ownership requirements and control of copyright piracy. Refer to section 8, Regulatory environment of the BCE 2018 MD&A, BCE 2019 MD&A and BCE 2020 MD&A contained in the BCE 2018 Annual Report, BCE 2019 Annual Report and BCE 2020 Annual Report, respectively, for a discussion of the regulatory initiatives and proceedings that influenced, in the financial years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and may in the future influence, the general development of our business.

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 4, 2021, 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 29, Share capital of the BCE 2020 consolidated financial statements, on pages 161 and 162 of the BCE 2020 Annual 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 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 66²/₃% of the voting shares of the carrier company, the Carrier holding company must have at least 66²/₃% 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 33¹/₃%. 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 33¹/₃%.

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, AST Trust Company (Canada), and (ii) beneficial shareholders from the Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS) and the Depository Trust Company (DTC) in the United States. We also provide periodic reports to the CRTC.

As of March 4, 2021, BCE had no debt securities outstanding.

Under its shelf prospectus dated May 29, 2019 (2019 Shelf Prospectus), Bell Canada could issue, over a 25-month period, up to $5 billion of unsecured debt securities. In addition, under its prospectus supplement dated June 6, 2019 (2019 Prospectus Supplement), Bell Canada could issue, over the same period, up to $5 billion of unsecured Medium Term Notes (MTN) Debentures.

In order to continue to provide Bell Canada with financial flexibility and efficient access to the Canadian and U.S. debt capital markets, on November 16, 2020, Bell Canada filed with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities and with the SEC a new shelf prospectus (2020 Shelf Prospectus) under which Bell Canada may issue, over a 25-month period, up to $6 billion of unsecured debt securities. The 2020 Shelf Prospectus effectively replaced the 2019 Shelf Prospectus and effectively cancelled the 2019 Prospectus Supplement.

As at March 4, 2021, Bell Canada had issued no debt securities under its 2020 Shelf Prospectus.

Certain of Bell Canada’s trust indentures and MTS’ 2011 trust indenture assumed by Bell Canada impose covenants that place limitations on the issuance of additional debt with a maturity date exceeding one year based on certain tests related to interest and asset coverage. In addition, 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. “Change of Control” and “Rating Event” are defined in the terms and conditions of the relevant series of debt securities. Bell Canada is in compliance with all conditions and restrictions of its debt securities.

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, which equals the aggregate amount available under Bell Canada’s committed supporting revolving and expansion credit facilities as of March 4, 2021. 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 4, 2021, Bell Canada had CP Notes outstanding under its U.S. program in the principal amount of US$1,480 million (C$1,876 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 as well as the bank credit market. Our ability to access such markets and the cost and amount of funding available depend partly on our assigned credit ratings at the time capital is raised. Investment grade ratings usually mean that when we borrow money, we qualify for lower interest rates than companies that have ratings below 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. A ratings downgrade could result in adverse consequences for our funding capacity or our ability to access the capital markets.

As of March 4, 2021, 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 4, 2021, 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 and S&P include access to their websites. In addition, we paid DBRS and Moody’s for services provided relating to ratings assigned in connection with Bell Canada’s securitized trade receivable programs.

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 4, 2021.

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 4, 2021.

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 one year 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 4, 2021.

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.