TIMMINS, ON – The proposed sale of Ontera to Bell Aliant has been pushed back to October, prompting speculation that a review by the Competition Bureau could kill the deal entirely.
According to a report by the North Bay Nugget, politicians, municipal leaders and Ontario Northland Transportion Commission unions have filed complaints with the Bureau, raising concerns the Ontera sale will create a monopoly of telecommunication services in portions of Northeastern Ontario which in turn would impact the cost and level of service for customers. About half of the 125 jobs at Ontera would also be lost within the two years of the completed sale, the report continued.
The article also compared this sale to last month’s failed deal between Eastlink and municipally-owned Bruce Telecom in southwestern Ontario, a proposal that was shelved following a similar probe by the Competition Bureau.
Reports last April said that Bell Aliant had submitted a purchase proposal worth $6 million for Ontera, the telecom arm of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission – and that the board of directors of the ONTC had approved of the sale.
Ontera provides telecom services (fibre backhaul in many regions and some business and residential telephone and Internet connectivity in other spots), to 30,000 customers in Northern Ontario in a territory spanning some 200,000 square kilometres. Its network connects remote areas of Ontario as far north as Peawanuck, as well as major northern centres such as Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay.
