The ratings on Montreal-based BCE Inc., Canada's largest integrated telecommunications provider with about 18 million customer connections, reflect Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' opinion of the company's business risk profile, which we view as "satisfactory," given the company's large and expanding nationwide wireless operations; leading position as the incumbent local telephone service provider in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec; broad product portfolio, including the ability to bundle voice, high-speed Internet (HSI), wireless, and video services within its incumbent markets; solid brand recognition; broad distribution; and healthy diversity of revenue among business and residential customers. The ratings are also supported by what we view as the company's "intermediate" financial risk profile given its moderate financial policy; solid cash generation from
