SAINT JOHN and MONTREAL – Bell Canada Enterprises and Aliant announced today that the Aliant plan of arrangement for the creation of the new Bell Aliant Regional Communications Income Fund is expected to be completed on July 7, 2006.
BCE also announced that the anticipated effective date of its plan of arrangement is July 10, 2006, which will be the record date of the distribution by BCE of units of Bell Aliant and the consolidation of BCE’s outstanding common shares.
As reported by Cartt.ca, the new income trust will combine Aliant’s wireline operation in Atlantic Canada and Bell Canada’s wireline operation in its regional territories in Ontario and Quebec as well as its indirect 63.4% interest in Bell Nordiq (which is already an Income Trust which owns rural lines in Northern Quebec and Ontario).
Bell Aliant will be one of North America’s largest regional telecommunications service providers with over 3.4 million local access lines and over 400,000 high-speed Internet subscribers in six provinces.
