Bell, which is wholly owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), says it plans to spend CAN$1 billion to CAN$1.2 billion on broadband fiber and wireless networks over the next two years. The outlay will come in addition to the approximately CAN$4 billion the service provider devotes each year to capex. Bell expects the investment will help enable it to add up to 900,000 additional fiber and rural wireless home internet locations and double its 5G mobile coverage this year.
The additional money comes from Bell's sale of data centers last year. The project also will benefit from accelerated expensing of capex under the federal capital cost allowance program, which will create cash tax savings that can be reinvested in infrastructure development. The company plans to spend approximately CAN$700 million of the total this year, with an aim to extend coverage via fiber and wireless connections to up to 400,000 more homes and businesses. As many as many as 250,000 of these new potential customer locations would be connected with fiber, Bell predicts. These additional efforts are expected to help Bell achieve the goal of 900,000 additions, which would give it a total broadband footprint of approximately 6.9 million locations by the end of 2021.
"The COVID crisis has reinforced the importance of fast, reliable and high-capacity broadband network connections in every part of Canadian society, and they will be just as critical to our ongoing national leadership in a converged digital world," said Mirko Bibic, president and CEO of BCE Inc. and Bell Canada. "Building the best networks is a strategy that benefits all our stakeholders: our customers and communities with access to the latest communications innovations and 99.99+% network service reliability; our company with the leading market growth that propels Bell's broadband investment strategy; and our country with the next-generation infrastructure and support necessary to compete and prosper in a rapidly evolving global digital economy."
For related articles, visit the FTTx Design Topic Center.
For more information on FTTx technology and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
To keep abreast of optical communications technology, subscribe to Lightwave’s Enabling Technologies Newsletter.