Cash Relating to Discontinued Operations Cash from discontinued operations was $193 million in 2004. This consisted mainly of net cash proceeds of $315 million from the sale of our investment in Emergis, which were partly offset by the deconsolida- The table below lists our key credit ratings at March 2, 2005. tion of Emergis’ cash on hand of $137 million at December 31, 2003. Cash from discontinued operations was $355 mil- lion in 2003. This consisted mainly of net cash pro- ceeds of $320 million on Aliant’s sale of its 53.2% interest in Stratos. The interest rates we pay  are partly based on the  quality of our credit ratings, which were all investment grade at March 2, 2005. Investment grade ratings usually mean that when  we borrow money, we  qualify for lower interest rates than companies  that have ratings lower  than investment grade.  Credit Ratings Liquidity Dividends Cash Requirements Contractual Obligations Capital Expenditures Bell Canada Enterprises  2004 Annual Report 63 Credit Ratings The table on the next page is a summary of our con- tractual obligations at December 31, 2004 that are due in each of the next five years and after 2009. We spent $3.4 billion on capital expenditures in 2004, representing 17.5% of our revenues for the year. Our target is for Bell Canada’s capital expenditures to be in the range of 18% to 19% of its total revenues in 2005. In 2005, we will need cash mainly for capital expendi- tures, dividend payments, the payment of contractual obligations and other cash requirements. In December 2004, the board of directors of BCE Inc. approved an increase of 10% or $0.12 per common share in the annual dividend on BCE Inc.’s common shares. As a result, starting with the quarterly divi- dend to be paid on April 15, 2005, subject to being declared by the board of directors, we expect to pay quarterly dividends on BCE Inc.’s common shares of approximately $305 million, based on the revised  dividend policy. This assumes that there are no signifi- cant changes to the number of outstanding common shares. These quarterly dividends equal $0.33 per common share, based on approximately 925 million common shares outstanding at December 31, 2004. Our plan is to generate enough cash from our operat- ing activities to pay for capital expenditures and  dividends. In other words, we are targeting to have positive free cash flow in the short term and in the long term. We expect to repay contractual obligations maturing in 2005 and in the long term from cash on hand, from cash generated from our operations or by issuing new debt. Contractual obligations include long-term debt. (1) Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (S&P) (2) Dominion Bond Rating Services Limited (DBRS) (3) Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (Moody’s) BCE INC. BELL CANADA S&P (1) DBRS (2) MOODY’S (3) S&P (1) DBRS (2) MOODY’S (3) Commercial paper A-1 (mid) / R-1 (low) /  P-2 / A-1 (mid) / R-1 (mid) / P-2 / stable stable stable stable stable stable Extendable commercial notes A-1 (mid) /  R-1 (low) / A-1 (mid) / R-1 (mid) / stable stable – stable stable – Long-term debt Baa1 / A (high) /  A3 / A– / stable A / stable stable A / stable stable stable Preferred shares P-2 (high) / Pfd-2 / P-2 (high) / Pfd-2 (high) / stable stable – stable stable –