As was anticipated by some, Bell Canada has followed TELUS in turning the entire company into an income trust, winding down BCE and simplifying its corporate structure.
The BCE holding company was originally created as a way to work around CRTC rate regulation, moving unregulated operations out of the telco and into separate structures.
Now, to increase the dividend payouts (almost doubling from $1.32 to $2.55) and thereby juice the stock price, BCE is being unwound, following TELUS’ lead from exactly a month ago.
Two questions: what does all this mean for customers; and is there still a good reason to maintain the financial and operational complexities in Bell Aliant?