THE INDEPENDENTS: Distributel, the survivors

By Ruby Pratka

ONE OF CANADA’S LARGEST independent telecom companies was born as the result of a vulnerability assessment. “I was working at Bell Canada in the late 1980s, when the CRTC changed the rules with regard to retail sharing,” recalls Distributel founder and chairperson Mel Cohen.He was assigned to a task force then to explore ramifications of the rule change that could threaten Bell’s position in the market. Instead of coming away from that project worried for his employer, he came away inspired to go out on his own. “I remember knocking on doors of small businesses in Mississauga, asking, why are...