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Free Cash Flow We define free cash flow as cash from operating activities after capital expen- ditures, total dividends and other investing activities. 

## Free Cash Flow 

The term free cash flow does not have any standard- ized meaning prescribed by Canadian GAAP. It is therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar meas- ures presented by other companies. Free cash flow is presented on a consistent basis from period to period. 

We consider free cash flow to be an important indi- cator of the financial strength and performance of our business because it shows how much cash is available to repay debt and to reinvest in our company. We believe that certain investors and analysts use free cash flow when valuing a business and its underlying assets. 

The most comparable Canadian GAAP financial measure is cash from operating activities. The table below is a reconciliation of free cash flow to cash from operating activities on a consolidated basis. 

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## About Our Business 

BCE is Canada’s largest communications company. Our primary focus is Bell Canada, which is Canada’s leading provider of wireline and wireless communica- tions services, Internet access, data services and video services to residential and business customers, and represents the largest component of our business. We report Bell Canada’s results of operations in four segments. Each reflects a distinct customer group: Consumer , Business , Aliant and Other Bell Canada . All of our other activities are reported in the Other BCE segment. Our reporting structure reflects how we man- age our business and how we classify our operations for planning and measuring performance. We discuss our consolidated operating results in this MD&A,as well as the operating results of each segment. See Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements for information about our segments. We also discuss our results by product line to give further insight into these results. 

The chart below shows the operating revenues that each segment contributed to total operating revenues for the year ended December 31, 2004. Some of these revenues vary slightly by season. For example, Business segment revenues tend to be higher in the fourth quarter because of higher levels of voice and data equipment sales. Revenues for the Other BCE segment tend to be highest in the fourth quarter and lowest in the third quarter because of seasonal patterns in adver- tising spending in the fall and summer respectively. Our operating income can also vary slightly by season. For example, Consumer segment operating income tends to be lower in the fourth quarter due to the higher acquisition costs related to higher subscriber gains in the holiday season. 

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## Consumer Segment 

The Consumer segment provides local telephone, long distance, wireless, Internet access, video and other services to Bell Canada’s residential customers, mainly in Ontario and Québec. Wireless services are also offered in Western Canada and video services are pro- vided nationwide. 

Local telephone and long distance services are sold under the Bell brand, wireless services through Bell Mobility, Internet access under the Sympatico brand and video services through Bell ExpressVu. 

## Business Segment 

The Business segment provides local telephone, long distance, wireless, data (including Internet access) and other services to Bell Canada’s small and medium- sized businesses (SMB) and large enterprise (Enterprise) 

