By Ahmad Hathout
Bell President and CEO Mirko Bibic said Thursday that Northwestel’s prospective buyer, a consortium of indigenous organizations known collectively as Sixty North Unity, is still discussing a critical component of the deal: funding.
“That is very much an active file,” Bibic said in response to a question about the deal during the Bank of America Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference in New York. “We’re working through with the potential new investors there how to structure it. They’re in discussions with funding partners on their end in order to fund their contribution. Should it proceed, which I think it will, whatever form it takes, I think will end up kind of basically having the same impact on leverage for us as it would have.”
Sixty North Unity, which plans to invest millions of dollars to increase internet speeds and coverage, did not respond to questions related to an update on the deal, whose aim is to “create more opportunities for investment and ownership in infrastructure and communications projects for northern Indigenous communities.”
There haven’t been many updates since Bell announced in the summer of 2024 that it was going to offload the telecom subsidiary, which is the dominant service provider in the far north, for $1 billion.
“It’s been a while since we announced that deal,” Bibic continued. “We still want to do something … but if you think of what’s changed in Canada, there’s that whole dimension of security and sovereignty around the north and that asset [Northwestel] is the incumbent communications provider in the north, which Bell owns … it has a different strategic importance today than it might have had two, three years ago, but I still think we’ll get something done.”
In 2023, the Senate Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Veteran Affairs recommended that the government develop a plan for improving broadband internet connectivity in the Arctic, including via fibre optics, to meet both military and civilian needs. The federal government responded by noting it has a number of initiatives and funds to assist in bolstering connectivity in the territories.
The prospective Northwestel deal is part of Bell’s $7-billion divestment plan of non-core assets, which includes the $4.7-billion sale of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) to Rogers, the $675-million sale of the land mobile radio networks to Motorola, and sale of its home security business for $170 million. Bell, which has a cost savings target of $1.5 billion by 2028, is close to hitting its divestment goals, as it plows money into artificial intelligence and fibre growth in the United States through its newly-acquired subsidiary Ziply Fiber.
Next week, the federal government will host the Canada Investment Summit, which will seek to court foreign investment into the country.
Bibic said he is encouraged by the government trying to get more investment – foreign and domestic – inside the country.
“I think we’ve got a federal government today that wants to accomplish two things: create the right frameworks and building blocks for that influx of investment domestically and foreign – we’d love to invest more in the country; at the same time, coming up with constructive solutions to address customer affordability, which we’re more than happy to do.”
However, he charged that the CRTC, through policy decisions – including allowing the largest players to use the wholesale internet framework – signals that the regulatory is not of the same mind.
“I don’t think the CRTC has caught up to that mindset because a series regulatory decisions over the last five years has caused a massive reduction in investment by the big communications companies … we’re collectively, I think, investing $4 billion less a year than we were a few years ago.”
Bell and Rogers have recently announced much lower spending this year.
“That’s harmful to productivity,” Bibic continued. “So we got to flip that balance back to more investment.”
