BCE, Canada's biggest telephone and media group, today announced write-downs of close to US$5.68 billion, yet another reflection of the costs of a big diversification drive in the late 1990's. The biggest write-down was a charge for good will impairment related to the wholly owned Teleglobe, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection. BCE also took write-downs on its media and e-commerce units. BCE needs to raise Cdn$5B to complete its purchase of Bell Canada. Its debt rating was recently downgraded, and shares are down 33% this year. BCE will sell its directories business to raise cash. Analyst: "Local phone service is the big cash cow. ... The challenge going forward is to raise the money [to finance the Bell Canada purchase]." If phone service is such a cash cow, why is it such a challenge to raise money? How can they possibly buy their way into high-speed Internet services, when they are about to pay Cdn$5B for a bunch of unprofitable voice customers? BCE Writing Off $5.7 Billion | 
