BCE (BCE) 11th Annual Desjardins Conference 2026 summary

Strategic infrastructure and AI partnerships

• Announced a 300MW data center project in partnership with the Government of Saskatchewan, emphasizing a 20% IRR target and a differentiated sovereign AI solution developed over three years.

• Secured best-in-class partners like Cerebras and Groq, focusing on infrastructure rather than chip ownership to maximize returns.

• Built a Canadian alliance with technology firms such as Coveo, Cohere, and SAP to deliver sovereign AI and SaaS solutions for Canadian enterprises and government.

• Go-to-market partnerships leverage the largest B2B sales force in Canada, with obligations to expand sales capabilities.

• Ongoing public sector projects and momentum in Ottawa, supported by strong government engagement in AI and innovation.

Financial discipline and risk management

• Maintains a strict 20% IRR hurdle for all infrastructure investments, with flexibility in site size, ownership, and development approach.

• Monetizes finite power assets by prioritizing high-return opportunities and turning down deals that do not meet return thresholds.

• Mitigates risk by securing contracts with customers upfront, avoiding chipset and end-customer ramp-up risks, and focusing on construction and counterparty risks.

• Demonstrated ability to deliver projects quickly, completing a data center in nine months and leveraging repeatable engineering processes.

• Balance sheet managed to maintain leverage targets, with flexibility to bring in partners if it enhances shareholder value.

Wireless and fiber strategy

• Differentiates wireless offerings through bundled services, fiber-backed Wi-Fi, and exclusive content like Crave, aiming to improve ARPU by 2027.

• Focuses on end-to-end customer experience, reducing churn and increasing bundled household penetration.

• Fiber buildout continues to drive market share, especially in Eastern Canada, with no set ceiling on share growth due to product superiority.

• Investment decisions in fiber are guided by ROI rather than fixed targets, avoiding markets with existing fiber competition.

• U.S. fiber expansion leverages first-mover advantage and capital allocation discipline, with flexibility in scaling passings based on returns.