BCE reports higher revenue as AI and fibre drive third-quarter growth

AI, fibre and wireless support BCE growth

Bell Business Markets revenue increased 9.2% in the quarter, including 41% growth in revenue from AI-powered solutions. BCE said the performance was driven by demand for Ateko and Bell Cyber. AI-powered solutions revenue also includes Bell AI Fabric, according to the company.

BCE added 67,199 residential fibre-to-the-home Internet subscribers, including customers from Ziply Fiber, contributing to 5.1% Internet revenue growth. The company also reported 24,110 postpaid mobile phone net subscriber activations. Postpaid churn declined 7 basis points to 1.06%, which BCE described as its lowest third-quarter level in four years.

Capital spending increased to support the build-out of Bell AI Fabric data centres in Canada and Ziply Fiber's fibre-to-the-premise network in the United States. As a result, free cash flow decreased to $854 million, even as cash flows from operating activities rose 15.9% to $2,218 million.

Financial results and infrastructure plans

Net earnings were $701 million, down 84.6%, while net earnings attributable to common shareholders fell 86.0% to $630 million, or $0.67 per common share. BCE attributed the decline to lower gains on investments following the sale of its MLSE stake in 2025. Adjusted net earnings were $695 million, producing adjusted EPS of $0.74, down 6.3%.

After the quarter ended, Bell entered into a definitive agreement with La Caisse to sell a 49.9% stake in a newly formed wireless tower infrastructure company for C$2.45 billion, subject to customary adjustments. BCE said the transaction is intended to surface value from its passive infrastructure assets, strengthen financial flexibility and help fund future growth areas.

Bell also announced a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Government of Saskatchewan to explore up to 900 megawatts of additional Bell AI Fabric capacity at its facility outside Regina. The plan creates a potential path to 1.2 gigawatts of total capacity, according to BCE.

Bell expands AI services and media offerings

Bell said it became the first carrier in Canada to detect and protect customers against spoofed calls using AI, adding real-time suspicious activity detection to its Suspicious Call Detection service. It also launched On-Demand Network, which it described as Canada's first Network-as-a-Service platform, giving business customers a digital way to activate, manage and scale connectivity.

Bell Cyber and Cohere deployed a sovereign domain-specific AI model for Canadian cybersecurity operations. Running on Bell AI Fabric infrastructure, the model is designed to accelerate threat investigations while keeping processing and sensitive security information in Canada.

Bell Media revenue rose 9.7%, with adjusted EBITDA up 8.0%. Crave subscriptions increased 21% to 5.15 million, supported by direct-to-consumer streaming growth. BCE said Bell Media reached more than 30 million Canadians during the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament, while the final recorded an average audience of 6.4 million viewers in Canada.