Desjardins Group Signs A New Service Agreement With Bell Canada, A Contract Valued At 670 Million Dollars

Telecommunications leader to provide fully outsourced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions and services.

(Tuesday, September 19, 2006) - Desjardins Group, the largest integrated
cooperative financial group in Canada, and Bell Canada, Canada's national leader in
telecommunications, have announced that they are renewing their service agreement.
The new agreement, which will go into effect on January 1, 2007, states that Bell will
continue to provide Desjardins with communications services, payment services and
call centre services until December 31, 2014. The contract is valued at approximately
$670 million.

Desjardins has been benefiting from Bell's expertise since 2001, and Bell has
successfully provided Desjardins with a fast, effective response to its various
Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) needs. For example,
IP (Internet Protocol) technology, which allows voice, data and image services to
converge on a single infrastructure, is already deployed for some aspects of
Desjardins' operations. It will now be necessary to broaden its scope to cover the
entire Desjardins network, providing the capability to deal with their expansion needs.
Bell's expertise in this area makes it the ideal partner.

"We are delighted to be entering into an agreement of this kind with a partner of Bell's
prestige and reputation," stated Fédération des caisses Desjardins du Québec
President and COO, Mr. Bertrand Laferrière. "With this new agreement, we can be sure
that our telecommunications platform will consistently remain both highly powerful
and on the leading edge of technology. This is essential, given that
telecommunications are critical to our daily operations."

"We are extremely pleased to continue our partnership with Desjardins Group, a
partnership that exemplifies the harmonious collaboration between our two
organizations. Bell will provide Desjardins with scalable ICT solutions that will
allow them to quickly increase bandwidth and easily add new applications to meet
the needs of their ever growing business," said Stéphane Boisvert, President,
Enterprise Group, Bell Canada. "A comprehensive outsourced, IP – based
communications network will deliver a consistent, superior level of service while
ensuring the most efficient use of the entire organization's resources."

The agreement also establishes a sharing of expertise in sustainable development,
specifically issues related to residual materials management performance, climate
change and responsible procurement. It is also aimed at identifying opportunities
to work together to promote sustainable development, including awareness activities.


About Bell Canada

Bell Canada is Canada's national leader in telecommunications, with 28 million
customer connections across the country. The company provides consumers with
simple solutions to all their communications needs, including telephone services,
wireless communications, high-speed Internet, digital television and voice over IP.
Bell also offers integrated information and communications technology (ICT)
services to businesses and governments, and is the Virtual Chief Information Officer
(VCIO) to small and medium businesses. Bell is proud to be a Premier National
Partner and exclusive Communications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and
Paralympic Winter Games. Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. For information on
Bell's products and services, please visit www.bell.ca; for information on BCE,
please visit www.bce.ca.


About Desjardins Group

Desjardins Group is the largest integrated cooperative financial group in Canada,
with overall assets of more than $118 billion. It comprises a network of caisses,
credit unions and business centres in Québec and Ontario, and some 20 subsidiary
companies in life and general insurance, securities, venture capital and asset
management, many of which are active across the country. Drawing on the
expertise of its 40,000 employees and the commitment of 7,600 elected officers,
Desjardins offers its 5.5 million individual and corporate members and clients a full
range of financial products and services. Its physical distribution network is
complemented by leading-edge virtual access modes. For more information, please
see our Web site: www.desjardins.com.

Sources (for journalists only):
André Chapleau
Desjardins Group
(514) 281-7229
1 866 866-7000, ext. 7229
andre.chapleau@desjardins.com

Pierre Leclerc
Bell Canada
Media Relations
1 877-391-2007
pierre.leclerc@bell.ca

View all Bell World Press Releases

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