Management’s Discussion and Analysis Please refer to the audited consolidated financial state- ments when reading this MD&A. You will find more information about BCE, including BCE Inc.’s annual information form for the  year ended December 31, 2004 (BCE 2004 AIF) and  recent financial reports,  on BCE Inc.’s website at www.bce.ca , on SEDAR at  www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at  www.sec.gov. In this MD&A,  we ,  us ,  our and  BCE mean BCE Inc.,  its subsidiaries and joint ventures. All amounts in this  MD&A are in millions of Canadian dollars, except where otherwise noted. A statement we make is  forward-looking when  it uses what we know and expect today to make a  statement about the future. Forward-looking statements may include words such  as  anticipate ,  believe ,  could , expect ,  goal ,  guidance ,  intend ,  may ,  objective ,  outlook ,  plan ,  seek, should , strive ,  target and  will . Non- GAAP Financial Measures This section describes  the non-GAAP financial  measures we used in the MD&A to explain our  financial results. It also  provides reconciliations  of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most  comparable Canadian  GAAP financial measures. This management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations (MD&A) comments on BCE’s operations, performance and financial condi- tion for the years ended December 31, 2004 and 2003. Securities laws encourage companies to disclose forward- looking information so that investors can get a better understanding of the company’s future prospects and make informed investment decisions. BCE’s 2004 annual report, including this MD&A, contains forward-looking statements about BCE’s objec- tives, strategies, financial condition, results of opera- tions, cash flows and businesses. These statements are forward-looking because they are based on our current expectations, estimates and assumptions about the markets we operate in, the Canadian economic envi- ronment and our ability to attract and retain customers and to manage network assets and operating costs. It is important to know that: Risks that could cause our actual results to materially differ from our current expectations are discussed throughout this MD&A and, in particular, in  Risks that Could Affect Our Business . The term EBITDA does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). It is therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. EBITDA is presented on a consistent basis from period to period. We use EBITDA, among other measures, to assess the operating performance of our ongoing businesses without the effects of amortization expense, net benefit plans cost, and restructuring and other items. We exclude amortization expense and net benefit plans cost because they largely depend on the accounting methods and assumptions a company uses, as well as non-operating factors, such as the historical cost of capital assets and the fund performance of a company’s pension plans. We exclude restructuring and other items because they are transitional in nature. EBITDA allows us to compare our operating perform- ance on a consistent basis. We believe that certain investors and analysts use EBITDA to measure a com- pany’s ability to service debt and to meet other payment obligations, or as a common valuation measurement in the telecommunications industry. The most comparable Canadian GAAP financial measure is operating income. The tables on the next page are reconciliations of EBITDA to operating income on a consolidated basis for BCE and Bell Canada. Non-GAAP Financial Measures EBITDA 32 Bell Canada Enterprises  2004 Annual Report • forward-looking statements in BCE’s 2004 annual report, including this MD&A, describe our expec- tations at March 2, 2005 • our actual results could be materially different from what we expect if known or unknown risks affect our business, or if our estimates or assumptions turn out to be inaccurate. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and, accordingly, you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. • forward-looking statements do not take into account the effect that transactions or non-recurring or other special items announced or occurring after the state- ments are made may have on our business. For exam- ple, they do not include the effect of dispositions, sales of assets, monetizations, mergers, acquisitions, other business combinations or transactions, asset write-downs or other charges announced or occurring after forward- looking statements are made. The financial impact of such transactions and non-recurring and other special items can be complex and necessarily depends on the facts particular to each of them. Accordingly, the expected impact cannot be meaningfully described in the abstract or presented in the same manner as known risks affecting our business. • we disclaim any intention and assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement even if new information becomes available as a result of future events or for any other reason. About Forward-Looking Statements