Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements $75 million payment. We sold our interest in MTS in September 2004. See Note 5,  Other Income , for  more information. During 2004, we recorded other pre-tax charges totalling $108 million. These costs consisted mostly of future lease costs for facilities that were no longer needed, asset write-downs and other provisions, net of a reversal of previously recorded restructuring charges that were no longer necessary because of the introduc- tion of a new employee departure program. The restructuring charges were mainly from  streamlining Bell Canada’s management, line and other support functions. They included severance for approximately 1,700 employees, enhanced pension benefits and other employee costs. The restructuring was largely completed in 2003.  Other charges consisted mainly of various accounts receivable write-downs relating to billing adjustments and unreconciled balances from previous years that were identified in 2002. BCE Inc. recorded a pre-tax charge of $93 million in 2002. This represented a write-off of deferred costs relating to various convergence initiatives after it was determined that these costs would not be recovered. In 2003, Bell Canada recorded other charges of $65 mil- lion that related to various asset write-downs and other provisions. These charges were offset by a credit of $66 million relating to the reversal of the restruc- turing charges recorded in 2002, which were no longer necessary because fewer employees were terminated than expected. This was because of an increase in the number of employees being transferred to other  positions within Bell Canada. At the same time it was developing its new billing system, Bell Canada adopted a new and more precise method for analyzing receivables by customer and by product. This method allows us to more accurately determine the validity of amounts that customers owe to Bell Canada. The analysis indicated that a write-down of accounts receivable of $272 million was appropriate. Since these amounts came from legacy billing systems and processes, Bell Canada carried out a detailed review of billings and adjustments for the period from 1997 Bell Canada recorded a pre-tax charge of $302 million in 2002. This included restructuring charges of $232 mil- lion and other charges of $70 million.  As a result of the settlement, Bell Canada recorded a charge of $79 million in the third quarter of 2002. The charge is equal to the $128 million cash payout, less a previously recorded provision. We are deferring and amortizing the related pension benefits into earn- ings over the estimated average remaining service life of active employees and the estimated average remain- ing life of retired employees. On September 25, 2002, the members of the Canadian Telecommunications Employees’ Association (CTEA) ratified a settlement reached between the CTEA and Bell Canada relating to the 1994 pay equity complaints that the CTEA had filed on behalf of its members before the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The settlement included a cash payout of $128 million and related pension benefits of approximately $50 million.  Aliant recorded a pre-tax restructuring charge of  $15 million in 2003. This was a result of a restructur- ing plan at its subsidiary Xwave Solutions Inc. Costs associated with the restructuring include severance and related benefits, technology lease cancellation  penalties and real estate rationalization costs. The restructuring was completed in 2004. 98 Bell Canada Enterprises  2004 Annual Report 2002 Restructuring and Other Charges at Bell Canada Write-down of Bell Canada’s Accounts Receivable Bell Canada Charges 2003 Restructuring of Xwave Solutions Inc. Pay Equity Settlement Write-off of Deferred Costs Other Charges • a premium payment to us by MTS in the event there is a change in control of MTS before 2006. The pay- ment will equal the appreciation in MTS’s share price from the time of our divestiture to the time of any takeover transaction.