Mr. Blaik Kirby reports

BELL FIRST IN NORTH AMERICA TO INTRODUCE TRI-BAND LTE ADVANCED, THE FASTEST MOBILE NETWORK TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE; SPEEDS OF UP TO 290 MBPS WITH THE NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY S6 EDGE+ AND GALAXY NOTE5 SMARTPHONES AVAILABLE FROM BELL NEXT WEEK

BCE Inc.'s Bell will roll out North America's first tri-band LTE (long-term evolution) advanced (LTE-A) network service, delivering mobile data speeds of up to 290 megabits per second (Mbps). Customers in Halifax, Hamilton, Oakville and Toronto can quickly take advantage of these enhanced data speeds with the new Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ and Samsung Galaxy Note5 smart phones, launching on Aug. 21.

"With Bell's tri-band LTE advanced network, these latest Samsung smart phones can take full advantage of the fastest mobile technology available anywhere in North America," said Blaik Kirby, president of Bell Mobility. "Tri-band LTE-A is a turbo boost for data-intensive activities such as streaming [high-definition] video, playing graphics-intense multiplayer games or downloading large business files. Executing our commitment to lead the development of Canadian broadband communications, Bell is proud to be first to make these enhanced mobile speeds available to consumers and business customers."

Only Bell customers will have access to these enhanced mobile speeds using the new Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ and Samsung Galaxy Note5 smart phones, when the devices launch on Aug. 21. Customers can preorder Samsung's newest smart phones today at the Bell website.

Bell will launch tri-band LTE-A first in Halifax, Hamilton, Oakville and Toronto, and coverage will continue to expand. Bell now offers customers access to the largest LTE network across Canada, with coverage for 93 per cent of the national population and data speeds ranging from 75 Mbps to 150 Mbps (expected average download speeds of 12 to 40 Mbps). Targeting coverage of more than 98 per cent by the end of 2015, Bell is extending LTE service to small towns and remote communities, including Canada's North.

In February of this year, Bell introduced LTE-A by combining bands of wireless spectrum to increase network capacity and data speeds up to 220 Mbps (expected average of 12 to 60 Mbps). Also Canada's largest, the LTE-A network is now available in more than 40 communities across the country.

Now, by leveraging 700-megahertz spectrum assets for tri-band LTE-A, Bell is the first wireless carrier in North America with network technology that can deliver mobile broadband speeds of up to 290 Mbps (expected average of 12 to 87 Mbps).