KAPUSKASING, Ont. – Eastlink has acquired internet service provider NeoTech, which is located in Kapuskasing, Ontario, according to a press release Thursday.
“We are delighted to welcome NeoTech customers to the Eastlink family,” said Eastlink CEO Jeff Gillham. “This purchase is a natural fit for us as the NeoTech team has served its customers with a similar commitment towards delivering care and excellence to its customers.”
Gillham said Eastlink will work closely with the Neotech team to ensure that Neotech customers are smoothly transitioned.
Eastlink said it has invested $180 million in Northern Ontario over the past decade to connect hundreds of communities…
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OTTAWA – The Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) announced Tuesday a number of changes to its board of directors that include long-time board member Jim Deane assuming the role of chair.
Until his retirement from Regina-based Access Communications earlier this year, Deane had served as Access CEO since 2000. He has been a CPAC director for more than 20 years “and brings a wealth of institutional knowledge to the role” of board chair, says a press release announcing CPAC’s board changes.
Pam Dinsmore, vice-president of regulatory for cable at Rogers Communications, is joining the CPAC…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has denied Tuesday an application requesting that the regulator increase the price of the basic television package from $25 to $28 per month and to index the price to inflation.
The application, filed by Bell, Cogeco, Eastlink and SaskTel, was denied on the basis that there was insufficient evidence provided to suggest that the $25 price was no longer economically viable for the providers, the regulator said, noting the “strength of the BDU industry.”
Ironically, the CRTC argued inflation actually provides more justification for a price cap on the cost of the mandatory carriage package because consumers…
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HALIFAX – Eastlink announced Thursday the launch of mobile services in the Acadian Peninsula in New Brunswick.
The expansion is part of the company’s existing investments into its mobile wireless infrastructure and follows the network’s expansion into Miramichi and Bathurst. The company has invested more than $255 million in the past five years and over $55 million in the last year.
“We’re laser focused on the continued growth of our mobile service,” said CEO Jeff Gillham in a press release. “We’ve invested heavily and consistently since we launched 10 years ago and are committed to continue that investment.”
The company has also…
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HALIFAX and DALLAS – Eastlink and Nokia announced Wednesday a multi-year deal that will see the Halifax-based telecom use Nokia’s AirScale portfolio, including 5G RAN, for its mobile radio access network.
This will enable Eastlink to boost the speed, performance and capacity of its mobile network serving communities across Canada, a press release says.
“The partnership includes new site expansion and existing site upgrades. The first site using Nokia technology is expected to go live in August,” the release reads.
In May, Eastlink announced it was extending its existing 10-year partnership with Continue Reading
Large telecoms emphasize need for mobile wireless projects
By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – Service providers are providing mixed responses to the CRTC’s proposal to use the Broadband Fund to subsidize the ongoing cost of operating networks it helps build, with responses ranging from not expanding its use beyond its current boundaries and allowing for its use for that purpose.
The CRTC launched a proceeding in March to broaden the scope of the $750-million fund supported by telecom revenues, from which three rounds of funding had been opened.
The commission – surveying the influx of other federal broadband programs since the emergence of…
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MINDEMOYA, ON – Eastlink said today its fibre network is now complete in Mindemoya, Ont., as the company continues to expand its fibre footprint in the province.
The project in Mindemoya, located on Manitoulin Island, was partly funded by the federal government’s Universal Broadband Fund program. Eastlink last provided an update on the project in January.
“Demand for access to high-speed internet in more rural communities has never been greater, which makes builds like these so important,” Eastlink CEO Jeff Gillham said in a press release today. “We’re proud to deliver on that in Mindemoya…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The spate of acquisitions by incumbents of wholesale internet service providers in recent months is not because of a difficult market or bad wholesale access rates, Bell argued in its most recent submission to the CRTC’s wholesale internet framework proceeding, which is messaging that runs counter to what competitors have been saying.
“These acquisitions were completed for a variety of reasons, including succession planning, and the sales were made at strong valuations, not because the Resellers went bankrupt, were driven out of the market or…because of ‘the broken wholesale access model,’” Bell said, in reference to…
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HALIFAX – Halifax-based Purple Cow Internet announced last week it has expanded into Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.
“We are excited to extend our services to Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, bringing our cost-effective internet, TV, and phone solutions to these communities,” Bradley Farquhar, CEO of Purple Cow, said in a press release.
“Our goal is to drive down the overall cost of internet services and ensure that everyone has access to reliable and high-speed connectivity,” Farquhar added. “With our expansion, we have ample opportunity to make a positive impact in these new provinces.”
The telecom now operates in three provinces. The…
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By Ahmad Hathout
OTTAWA – The CRTC is being asked to raise the financial threshold for registering online services with the commission and ensure transactional video services are made to contribute to the system when it implements the new Online Streaming Act.
The commission asked the public to submit comments by last week into two out of three consultations it is holding about the implementation of the new Broadcasting Act framework, including who should register with the CRTC for the purposes of collecting data and possibility requiring to contribute to the Canadian content system.
But some of the major broadcasting players are…
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