OTTAWA, Ontario,May 15 2006 --- Aliant, Bell Canada, SaskTel, and
TELUS (the Companies) have asked the federal cabinet to direct the Canadian
Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to reconsider within
90 days its April 6, 2006, decision on the regulation of local telephone
service, and to do so in light of the recommendations of the
Telecommunications Policy Review (TPR) Panel. The Companies filed the petition
on May 12th.
    In its April 6 decision, the CRTC effectively set out a path to further
and more detailed regulation of local telephone service. The CRTC's decision
is in stark and stunning contrast to the report of the TPR Panel, the overall
thrust of which was that competitive market forces can now achieve many of
Canada's telecommunications policy objectives without regulatory intervention.
    The Companies believe the Commission has once again demonstrated that it
is out of touch with today's market realities. The vast majority of customers
can now choose between at least two local providers - telephone or cable
companies - and most also have access to local service resellers or domestic
and foreign VoIP providers. Moreover a growing number of Canadian households
are relying only on cell phones, almost 10 percent in Vancouver alone
according to Statistics Canada.
    The CRTC's decision is further evidence of its inability or unwillingness
to reform telecom regulation. The Companies urge the cabinet to act quickly on
their appeal in order to encourage innovation and productivity by ensuring
regulation is kept to a minimum and competitive market forces are relied upon
to the greatest extent possible. Otherwise Canadian telecom customers -
consumers, businesses and governments themselves - will be denied the full
benefits of competition: expanded choice, competitive prices and promotions,
and innovative services.

    About Aliant

    Aliant serves customers across Atlantic Canada with innovative and
traditional communications services, including local and long distance
telephony, wireless, Internet, e-commerce, interactive multimedia, data and
managed network services. In addition to serving residential, small-to-medium
sized business and enterprise customers in its home market, Aliant also serves
business customers located in other parts of North America. Aliant complements
its industry-leading telecommunications business with strengths in information
technology solutions and knowledge-services applications. Aliant's
approximately 8,400 employees build on its 100-plus year history by
collaborating to deliver the highest quality of customer service, choice and
convenience. Aliant has a market capitalization of approximately $4.5 billion.

    About Bell Canada

    Bell Canada is Canada's national leader in communications 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 (SMBs). Bell
is proud to be a Premier National Partner and the 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, and for corporate information on BCE,
please visit
www.bce.ca.

    About SaskTel

    SaskTel is the leading full service communications company in
Saskatchewan employing over 3,800 people in over 50 Saskatchewan communities.
It offers complete wireline, wireless, internet, entertainment and e-business
solutions over a state-of-the-art, digital network. SaskTel maintains
investments in companies that provide a variety of products and services.
Visit SaskTel at www.sasktel.com.

    About TELUS

    TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications
company in Canada, with $8.2 billion of annual revenue and 10.3 million
customer connections including 4.6 million wireless subscribers, 4.7 million
wireline network access lines and 1.0 million Internet subscribers. The
company's strategic intent is to unleash the power of the Internet to deliver
the best solutions to Canadians at home, in the workplace and on the move.
TELUS provides customers with a wide range of wireline and wireless
communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP),
voice, entertainment and video services.



For further information: Isabelle Robinson, Aliant Public Affairs,
1 866 694-6762, isabelle.robinson@aliant.ca;
Jacqueline Michelis, Bell
Canada, Media Relations, (416) 581-3311, 1 888 482-0809,
Jacqueline.michelis@bell.ca; Michelle Englot,
SaskTel Corporate Affairs,
(306) 777-4476, michelle.englot@sasktel.sk.ca;
Nick Culo, TELUS Media and
Public Relations, (416) 629-6425, nick.culo@telus.com