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## Note 4 : Restructuring and Other Items 

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## 2004 

## Employee Departure Program – Bell Canada 

In 2004, we recorded a pre-tax charge of $985 million related to the employee departure program that Bell Canada announced in June 2004. The cost was included in the Other Bell Canada segment. The program consisted of two phases: 

• an early retirement plan; 3,965 employees chose to receive a package that included a cash allowance, immediate pension benefits, an additional guaranteed pension payable up to 65 years of age, career transition services and post-employment benefits 

• a departure plan; 1,087 employees chose to receive a special cash allowance. 

Almost all of the employees who chose to take advan- tage of the program left Bell Canada in 2004. The rest will leave during 2005. 

We also recorded a pre-tax charge of $11 million for relocating employees and closing real estate facilities that are no longer needed because of the employee departure program. We expect to spend approximately $65 million in the future for similar costs that will be expensed as incurred. 

## Employee Departure Program – Aliant 

Aliant recorded a pre-tax charge of $67 million. Under the plan, 693 employees chose to receive a cash allowance. The program is expected to be completed by the end of 2005. 

The table below provides a summary of the costs rec- ognized in 2004, as well as the corresponding liability at December 31, 2004. 

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## Provision for Contract Loss 

In 2001, we entered into a contract with the Govern- ment of Alberta to build a next-generation network to bring high-speed Internet and broadband capabilities to rural communities in Alberta. Mechanical construc- tion of the network was completed in December 2004. We identified cost overruns on the construction contract and recorded an additional provision of $128 million in 2004. 

## Settlement with MTS 

On May 20, 2004, Bell Canada filed a lawsuit against MTS after MTS announced it would purchase Allstream Inc. (Allstream). Bell Canada sought damages and an injunction that would prevent MTS from breaching the terms and conditions of the commercial agree- ments it had with Bell Canada. On June 3, 2004, Bell Canada also filed a lawsuit against Allstream seeking damages related to the same announcement. 

On June 30, 2004, BCE Inc. reached an agreement with MTS to settle the lawsuits. The terms of the set- tlement included: 

• a payment of $75 million by MTS to Bell Canada for unwinding various commercial agreements. This set- tlement was recorded in the second quarter of 2004 and received on August 3, 2004. 

• the removal of contractual competitive restrictions to allow Bell Canada and MTS to compete freely with each other, effective June 30, 2004 

• the orderly disposition of our interest in MTS. Our voting rights in MTS were waived after receiving the 

