Mr. Mirko Bibic reports

BELL CANADA INCREASES SOVEREIGN AI CAPACITY WITH BELL AI FABRIC

BCE Inc.'s Bell Canada will invest in Bell AI Fabric that will create the country's largest artificial intelligence compute project and ensure that Canadian companies can continue to compete and win in the global AI economy.

Bell AI Fabric will create a national network starting with a data centre supercluster in British Columbia that will aim to provide upward of 500 megawatts of hydroelectric-powered AI compute capacity across six facilities.

Bell AI Fabric underscores Bell's capabilities as a leading full-stack AI managed service provider that can support Canadian enterprises and governments across their full spectrum of AI needs from strategy and application development through infrastructure deployment.

This initiative represents Bell's long-term objective to drive AI innovation and economic growth in Canada. With cutting-edge technology and ensuring data sovereignty, Bell is poised to lead the way in delivering secure, reliable and transformative AI solutions for businesses and communities across the country.

"Bell's AI Fabric will ensure that Canadian businesses, researchers and public institutions can access high performance, sovereign and environmentally responsible AI computing services. Through this investment, Bell is immediately bolstering Canada's sovereign AI compute capacity, while laying the groundwork to continue growing our AI economy. This is transformational for our customers, for Canada and for Bell," said Mirko Bibic, president and chief executive officer, BCE and Bell Canada.

Bell AI Fabric national network

The first of Bell's AI Fabric facilities will come on-line in June, 2025, in partnership with leading AI inference provider, Groq, and the launch of its seven-megawatt AI inference facility in Kamloops, B.C. Additional AI facilities will come on-line by the end of 2026, including a 26-megawatt AI data centre being built in partnership with Thompson Rivers University.

Two other AI data centres with a combined capacity of more than 400 megawatts are also in advanced planning stages with stakeholders.

Bell AI Fabric includes:

• Two seven-megawatt AI facilities that will be live this year; the first will open in Kamloops, B.C., in June, 2025, and is powered by Groq's cutting-edge LPUs, which are designed to accelerate artificial intelligence inference tasks, particularly for large language models; the second facility will open in Merritt, B.C., by the end of this year;
• Two additional 26-megawatt AI data centres in Kamloops; the first will open in 2026 at Thompson Rivers University and will be followed by a second 26-megawatt data centre in 2027;
• Two AI data centres in advanced planning stages, which will be designed for high-density AI workloads, powered by clean hydroelectricity and with a total capacity of more than 400 megawatts;
• Other facilities planned across the country will take advantage of Bell's nationwide real estate assets and will further add to the capacity of Bell AI Fabric.

"B.C. has a robust and rapidly growing AI sector, and the supercluster of data centres will drive innovation, create jobs and further strengthen our province's position as an emerging world-class AI hub," said Diana Gibson, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, government of British Columbia

Advanced compute technology powered by Groq

Bell has selected Groq as its inference infrastructure partner to support the development of sovereign AI in Canada, ensuring that customers have access to the most up-to-date technology to power their AI workloads. Groq's advanced LPUs deliver faster inference performance than other processing units at significantly lower costs per token than existing market alternatives.

"Groq's advanced LPU technology, combined with Bell's extensive fibre infrastructure, is setting a new standard in AI inference. We're excited to bring these capabilities to Canada, significantly enhancing performance and affordability for AI-driven applications," said Jonathan Ross, chief executive officer and founder, Groq.

An academic partnership with Thompson Rivers University

The data centre at TRU will be designed to host AI training and inference, providing students and faculty with access to cutting-edge compute capabilities, both at TRU and nationally through integration with the BCNET network. The data centre is also being integrated into the district energy system, with waste heat being repurposed to provide energy to TRU's buildings.

"Thompson Rivers University is proud to partner in this groundbreaking initiative, positioning Kamloops and British Columbia at the forefront of sustainable AI innovation. This collaboration will create unprecedented opportunities for students, researchers and our community," said Shannon Wagner, interim provost and vice-president, academic, Thompson Rivers University.

About Bell

Bell is Canada's largest communications company (1), providing advanced broadband Internet, wireless, TV, media and business communication services. Founded in Montreal in 1880, Bell is wholly owned by BCE.

Through Bell for Better, it is investing to create a better today and a better tomorrow by supporting the social and economic prosperity of communities. This includes the Bell Let's Talk initiative, which promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let's Talk Day and significant Bell funding of community care and access, research, and workplace leadership initiatives throughout the country.

(1) Based on total revenue and total combined customer connections.

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