Renews partnership with Rogers
THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Municipally-owned wired and wireless operator Tbaytel announced Monday at its annual general meeting it earned $193.3 million in revenue in 2018, up 1%, and contributed $17.5 million to the municipality through a fixed annual dividend payment to the City of Thunder Bay.
Tbaytel provides wired and wireless telephony and broadband, as well as subscription television in northwestern Ontario.
Since the Tbaytel Municipal Service Board’s inception in 2004, Tbaytel has paid $278.5 million in dividends to its shareholder, which puts the company on pace for contributions of just under $300 million in 2019, reads the company’s press release. This year’s contribution, however, is $1 million less than last year.
“In 2018 Tbaytel continued to respond to the changing needs of all of our customers, as well as to the communities and region we serve,” said Tbaytel Municipal Service Board chair Jack Jamieson in the release. “Over $40 million in total capital investments were made in 2018, which helped to improve our wireless networks, develop additional infrastructure and support our fibre to the home and business initiatives, while maintaining a return on investment that is among the best in the Canadian communication sector.”
In addition to wireless network enhancement projects to prepare for the evolution of future next-generation wireless technologies, Tbaytel also excelled at deploying advanced broadband solutions, both locally and regionally, with successful public WiFi projects and the unprecedented delivery of Tbayel Fibre to more homes and businesses,” adds the release.
The company also told local media it has extended its working partnership with Rogers Communications for 20 years.
The company, which employs 410 people in the city of over 110,000, also contributed $662,734 to 156 different organizations or events in 16 different communities throughout its serving territory, which covers the city in wired and wireless networks while its wireless coverage (helped with Rogers) extends east to Wawa and the Montreal River, north to Hearst and Geraldton and west to Red Lake and Kenora.
“Tbaytel’s commitment to our entire region remains stronger than ever and I am proud to share our 2018 community report, which demonstrates how Tbaytel is balancing valuable investments in community projects and initiatives that make a difference in the lives of people living in northern Ontario with investments in our business that make Tbaytel the preferred provider in our marketplace,” said Tbaytel president and CEO Dan Topatigh in the release.
