Bell Wireline adds 122,000 TV subscribers in 2013

MONTREAL — BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company, today reported BCE and Bell 2013 fourth quarter (Q4) and annual results in addition to announcing its financial guidance for 2014.

At the end of Q4 2013, BCE (Bell and Bell Aliant) served a total of 7,925,032 wireless customers, up 1.3% from Q4 2012; total TV subscribers of 2,489,248 (including 657,513 IPTV customers, reflecting the addition of 75,120 net new IPTV subscribers in Q4 2013), a 7.7% increase; total high-speed Internet subscribers of 3,136,636, up 3.0%; and total NAS lines of 7,595,569, a decrease of 6.6%.

Bell Wireless

Bell Mobile TV subscribers exceeded 1.2 million at the end of 2013, up 66% over the previous year. Mobile TV offers on-the-go access to over 40 sports, news, entertainment, and children’s TV channels. Additionally, the Bell TV app enables customers to access more than 70 other live and on-demand channels via Wi-Fi on their smartphones and tablets.

Bell Wireline

Bell Fibe TV added 60,301 net new customers, up 25.0% compared to 48,234 in Q4 2012. Fibe TV subscriber acquisition continued to accelerate year over year with ongoing expansion of the Fibe footprint and enhanced features including the Fibe TV wireless receiver and Fibe Remote app. At the end of 2013, Bell Fibe TV subscribers totalled 479,430, nearly double the 248,298 subscribers at the end of 2012.

The Bell Fibe TV footprint reached more than 4.3 million households at the end of 2013, compared to approximately 3.3 million at the end of 2012.

Total Bell Satellite TV losses improved 16.9% this quarter to 24,112, reflecting lower customer churn driven by matching of competitive offers, product enhancements, and fewer customer migrations to Fibe TV.

Combined Fibe TV and Satellite TV net additions were up 88.3% to 36,189, compared to 19,218 in Q4 2012. The Bell TV subscriber base totalled 2,278,433 at the end of 2013, a year-over-year increase of 5.7%.

TV (EOP=End of period)

                                Q4 13      Q3 13      Q2 13      Q1 13
                            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Net subscriber activations     36,189     46,685     25,605     13,971
  Fibe TV                      60,301     72,813     50,555     47,463
Total subscribers EOP       2,278,433  2,242,244  2,195,559  2,169,954
  Fibe TV                     479,430    419,129    346,316    295,761

                                Q4 12      Q3 12      Q2 12      Q1 12
                            ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Net subscriber activations     19,218     15,846     16,758     17,623
  Fibe TV                      48,234     42,973     38,477     33,443
Total subscribers EOP       2,155,983  2,136,765  2,128,433  2,111,675
  Fibe TV                     248,298    200,064    158,324    119,847