• lightrush@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    31
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    TekSavvy is the last remaining large internet wholesale provider, as others have been snapped up by bigger rivals in what independent ISPs describe as a challenging regulatory environment.

    Roughly half a dozen independent ISPs have been sold since February of 2022. According to BMO Capital Markets analyst Tim Casey, BCE Inc. paid roughly $139-million for Ebox, an internet, telephone and television service provider based in Longueuil, Que., and approximately $335-million for Ottawa-based Distributel last year.

    Telus, meanwhile, acquired Altima Telecom and Start.ca for undisclosed amounts, while Quebecor Inc. snapped up VMedia, an independent internet and television provider serving customers primarily in Toronto, in July of 2022. The price of the VMedia acquisition was also not disclosed.

    Montreal-based Cogeco Inc., meanwhile, paid $100-million for Oxio, a Montreal-based provider with 48,000 internet subscribers, Mr. Casey wrote in a research note…

    🤦🤦‍♀️🤦🏼‍♂️

    Sent an email to my MP. This is a competition issue similar to the Shaw sale to Rogers and the feds should get involved. You should do the same.

      • lightrush@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        1 year ago

        Now we know how these competitors were able to offer cheaper deals than TekSavvy for the last couple of years. They were all acquired and their costs are now dramatically lower as a result of not having to pay wholesale costs.

      • Woofcat@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        Because none are independent. Reselling someone else’s network isn’t really a great position to be in.

    • thayer@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      Ugh, this is so discouraging. I’m a big fan of Internet Lightspeed as an independent ISP. I haven’t seen news of a buy-out for them yet, and I hope I never do.