Mr. Ivan Mihaljevic reports

BELL AND FIRSTLIGHT TO OFFER NEW HIGH-SPEED ROUTES WITH TRIPLE REDUNDANCY BETWEEN SECAUCUS, NJ, TORONTO, AND MONTREAL

BCE Inc.'s Bell Canada, in partnership with FirstLight Fiber, will offer new unique wavelength data routes with speeds up to 400G that will enable triversity -- otherwise known as triple redundancy -- between Secaucus, N.J., Toronto and Montreal, to be available in Q1 2024.

Launched by Bell in April, 2021, 400G wavelength technology delivers significantly increased speeds and the capacity required by large cloud and data centre providers, offering reliable, secure fibre-optic networks for the transport of voice, data and video. By adding triversity to its network capabilities, Bell can reliably offer resilient business continuity.

As Secaucus, N.J., is a major data centre hub with explosive growth and customer demand, this move supports Bell's plan to increase network resilience, fulfilling needs of customers requiring connectivity between Canada and the United States. The new routes will terminate in Equinix's data centre campus in Secaucus and will allow traffic flow into the U.S., fortifying the networks for Bell customers.

These routes will provide triversity into Secaucus, bypassing New York city for two routes:

• Toronto toSecaucus;
• Montreal to Secaucus, via Albany;
• Montreal to Secaucus, via the Maritimes, going through Manhattan.

In addition to existing routes to New York city, these new routes will also enable triversity into New York city:

• Toronto to Secaucus to New York;
• Montreal to New York, via Albany;
• Montreal to New York, via the Maritimes.

Quotes

"With continued growth in data demand -- particularly because of cloud technology and AI [artificial intelligence] delivered by leading telecom networks like Bell Canada -- we are excited to fortify Bell's extensive footprint further with these new routes, which will enable faster and more reliable data transport between the major hubs in Secaucus, Toronto and Montreal," said Ivan Mihaljevic, senior vice-president, Bell wholesale.

"Given the vast amount of bandwidth we expect AI will require, coupled with the criticality of network resilience, we are delighted to work with Bell Canada to offer these unique routes that provide bandwidth up to 400G, diversely routed between Canada and the United States," said Patrick Coughlin, chief development officer for FirstLight.

About BCE Inc.

Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing advanced Bell broadband wireless, Internet, TV, media and business communications services. Founded in Montreal in 1880, Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc.

Through Bell for Better, the company is investing to create a better today and a better tomorrow by supporting the social and economic prosperity of our communities. This includes the Bell Let's Talk initiative, which 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 throughout the country.