On May 14, 2004, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services placed its ratings on Telus Corp. and Telus Communications Inc. (TCI) on CreditWatch with negative implications following Telus' announced bid to acquire Microcell Telecommunications Inc. for about C$1.1 billion in cash. (Standard&Poor's will hold a teleconference to discuss the ratings actions Fri., May 14, 2004, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET). See "Teleconference Information" below for details.) The CreditWatch placement reflects the uncertainty with respect to final terms and conditions of a potential transaction. Microcell is the sole Canadian wireless acquisition target and there could be additional interest in the company from other parties including the other two national wireless operators, Bell Canada and Rogers Wireless Inc. In addition,
