Bell Aliant Teams Up With BCE

Article Excerpt

BELL ALIANT REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS INCOME FUND $22.70 (Toronto symbol BA.UN: Shares outstanding: 127.0 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; SI Rating: Above average) has agreed to help BCE upgrade the connections between Bell Mobility’s wireless networks in Atlantic Canada and certain rural areas of Ontario and Quebec. Bell Aliant transferred most of its wireless operations to BCE Inc. as part of the agreement that formed the current trust in July, 2006. BCE continues to own 45% of Bell Aliant. The upgrades will also improve the speed and reliability of connections between BCE’s Bell Mobility wireless networks and Bell Aliant’s traditional phone systems. That should help Bell Aliant profit from rising use of mobile devices to receive email and connect to the Internet. This project will increase Bell Aliant’s capital expenditures this year by $25 million. However, these new outlays should not hurt the trust’s ability to keep paying monthly distributions of $0.2417 a unit (12.8% yield). Meanwhile, Bell Aliant earned $93.1 million or $0.58 a..