I'm not a telco guy, and don't pretend to be, so it could be that the Grand Vision is just beyond me. But when I look at what BCE has been doing over the past while (call it 3 years) I can't help but say "huh?" You cover this space like a hawk, Mark, so can you give any insights for we, The Great Unwashed? Because here's what I see: a core business (wireline voice) under fire from existing players and IP replacements, a heavy move into media in pursuit of ad dollars via "convergence" which they pull away from through the selling assets and farming out of Sympatico content *just when the reality looks set to meet some of the promise* (though their lame attempt at selling "convergence" was a dismal failure back in the day -- I got the sales calls, and they tried to push too much, too soon and one hand had not a clue what the other was doing), a wireless business with no apparent unique selling proposition, which likely means plenty o' churn and little loyalty if the US is any indicator, and a satellite TV business that is core to them, why, exactly? Jumpin's. What *are* they trying to do? Because I sure don't get it.

- Stuart

I used to work in one of BCE's new media companies, we were part of "convergence". Monty had the right idea and had the wherewithal to execute, but no time after getting suckered into buying Chuck's "I'm selling Teleglobe to the Japanese" line. What it takes is vision AND the people to execute. Give the right folks what they need (no meddlin') and you can transform a BCE non-core asset into a multi-billion dollar powerhouse (Yellow Pages Group). Marc Tellier is an ex-BCE soldier who is doing everything BCE should have done to build a future and shareholder value at the same time. A fact probably not lost on the BCE board...

For the past several years BCE has pursued a strategy of churning out core expertise to make room for hiring from non-related sectors. This "new-blood" culture was supposed to light the way to a diverse future which apparently the existing resources were incapable of achieving. This approach failed to recognize the core business strengthens and that change occurs incrementally, especially in a services business based on with reoccurring revenues. Bring in new blood can be a good idea but not when causes you to lose sight of the current business and skills required to be successful.