BCE announces the purchase through a private agreement of 2.66 million common shares under its normal course issuer bid

MONTREAL, July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE) today announced that it will purchase for cancellation 2.66 million of its common shares pursuant to a private purchase agreement with an arm's-length third-party seller. The common shares so purchased will be counted towards the 20 million common shares that BCE is entitled to repurchase for cancellation (subject to a maximum aggregate purchase price of $500 million) under its normal course issuer bid announced on December 17, 2009.

Such purchases will be made pursuant to an issuer bid exemption order issued by the Ontario Securities Commission, and will take place by way of several transactions to be effected pursuant to the terms of the applicable order, which provides that such purchases shall occur prior to July 29, 2010. The price that BCE will pay for the common shares purchased by it under such agreement will be at a discount to the prevailing market price of BCE's common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange at the time of each purchase. The above-mentioned private purchase agreement is in addition to the agreement entered into on March 31, 2010 pursuant to which BCE purchased for cancellation 4 million of its common shares, such that BCE will have purchased under off-market block trades an aggregate of 6.66 million common shares, representing one third of the 20 million common shares which may be purchased under the normal course issuer bid.

Caution concerning forward-looking statements

Certain statements made in this news release, including, but not limited to, statements relating to purchases of common shares for cancellation under BCE's normal course issuer bid and pursuant to the above-mentioned private purchase agreement, and other statements that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements and are subject to important risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the terms and conditions of the above-mentioned private purchase agreement. The results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Except as may be required by Canadian securities laws, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this news release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For additional information with respect to certain of the above-mentioned risks, uncertainties and assumptions, please refer to BCE's 2009 Annual MD&A dated March 11, 2010, as updated in BCE's 2010 First Quarter MD&A dated May 5, 2010, and BCE's news release dated May 6, 2010 announcing BCE's financial results for the first quarter of 2010, all filed by BCE with the Canadian securities commissions (available at www.sedar.com) and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (available at www.sec.gov). These documents are also available on BCE's website at www.bce.ca.

About BCE

BCE is Canada's largest communications company, providing the most comprehensive and innovative suite of communication services to residential and business customers in Canada. Operating under the Bell and Bell Aliant brands, the Company's services include telephone services, wireless communications, high-speed Internet, digital television, IP-broadband services and information and communications technology (ICT) services. BCE shares are listed in Canada and the United States. For corporate information on BCE, please visit www.bce.ca. For Bell product and service information, please visit www.bell.ca.

SOURCE BCE Inc.