On Feb. 1, 2006, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long-term corporate credit ratings to 'A-' from 'A' on Montreal, Que.-based telecommunications holding company BCE Inc. and wholly owned subsidiary Bell Canada, as well as the long-term corporate credit ratings on Bell Canada subsidiaries Telebec Limited Partnership and NorthernTel Ltd Partnership following BCE's announcement today concerning debt reduction and asset reorganization. At the same time, the short-term ratings on BCE and Bell Canada were lowered to 'A-2' from 'A-1'. The outlook is negative. The downgrade reflects expectations for debt reduction in 2006, which--while meaningful--is insufficient to improve leverage and other key credit ratios to a level consistent with an 'A' rating level. A significant improvement in leverage was key
