Early in February, I sat down for a thirty-minute meeting  with a group of Bell Canada employees. Two and a half  hours later, we adjourned. But I could have stayed all day. These were exceptional people—the kind who are leading  the charge in building a new Bell. Drawn from across the company. From across divisions and  locations. From across job titles and responsibilities. A wide  cross-section of our nearly 40,000 people. To know a company, to really know a company, you have to  know its people. So I seized the opportunity. And asked these  frontline people to tell me how they thought we were doing. I didn’t need to ask twice. They told me about the very real  challenges they have faced as we change Bell, as we tighten  our focus on a strategy that will take us into the future. They  told me about their hard work. How their teams are striving  to meet the call for simplicity and service. How it isn’t easy  to be on the front lines in a time of great change. But they also told me how proud they are to work at Bell.  To represent Bell in their communities. They spoke of the  pride they feel as we embrace the technological promise of  Internet Protocol,  IP television and next generation wireless.  They talked about the competition, and how we are ready  to fight. To win. I wanted to know what the mood of the company was. To  know where our people stand. How they think we are doing. The short answer they gave me: it’s tough, but we are on the  right track. 2004 was a watershed year in the 125-year history of  Bell Canada. A challenging year, a year in which many of our  achievements were internal, not external. And while we were  generally satisfied with our performance, we recognize how  much we have left to accomplish. For example, we added one million new subscribers for  our products and services last year—but we need to add more,  and we will. We negotiated an important labour agreement  with our Bell technicians, but we did experience the disrup- tion of a work stoppage at Aliant. We reduced the number  of product lines, offers and service codes. But this too is just  one step in our ongoing effort to be simpler. Other achievements will have a lasting impact. In October,  for instance, we took a bold step forward in our national  strategy. The Vancouver Organizing Committee named Bell  a Premier National Partner for the  2010 Olympic Winter Games. We strengthened that relationship when CTV earned  the exclusive Canadian broadcast rights to the Games. This  is an opportunity to showcase Bell’s technology, reliability  Bell Canada Enterprises  2004  Annual Report 4 Dear Fellow Shareholders,  be clear.