March 16 (Reuters) - Canadian telecom firm BCE

said on Monday it will invest an additional $1.7 billion to

build a 300-megawatt AI data center in Saskatchewan, with

Cerebras and CoreWeave ( CRWV ) signed on as tenants.

* BCE unit Bell Canada is working with the provincial

government to build and run the AI data center.

* Once complete, it will be the largest purpose-built AI

data center development anywhere in Canada, Bell Canada said.

* BCE expects to incur about $1.3 billion in capital

expenditures in 2026 for the construction of this facility.

* The investment will be funded through a combination of

debt and cash on hand.

* Cerebras will supply AI chips for large-scale training and

computing, while CoreWeave ( CRWV ) will provide AI computing capacity

using Nvidia processors.

* Construction is set to begin this spring, with the

facility coming online in phases, and the first stage expected

to be operational in the first half of 2027.

* The facility will serve as a regional hub for advanced

computing, helping expand Canada's AI ecosystem while delivering

economic benefits to Saskatchewan.

* The data center will be connected to Bell's fibre network

through a partnership with SaskTel, with the two companies

acting as go-to-market partners to offer AI-powered products and

services to SaskTel customers.

* BCE raised its forecast for AI-powered solutions revenue

to about $2 billion by 2028, from about $1.5 billion earlier.