VANCOUVER — Telus last month completed the integration of customers of internet service provider Start.ca after acquiring the small outfit, the company confirmed.
The customer networks of the London, Ont.-based provider of internet, television and home phone services were integrated into Telus last month, “giving customer access to TELUS’ global-leading wireless network, suite of home automation and security, health and entertainment products and services,” Telus told Cartt in a statement.
Richmond, B.C.-based Altima, another ISP that Telus acquired, was integrated into Telus’s network in June 2022.
The purchases further narrow the range of service providers to choose from, as various factors have made it more difficult for independent ISPs to go it alone. Despite increased reliance on the telecommunications networks during the pandemic, the independent providers have complained about the CRTC’s lack of action on wholesale access prices that allows them to provide services on the incumbent networks.
After the CRTC declined to implement the lower 2019 rates, a number of ISPs were gobbled up by larger players. Bell announced it was acquiring Ebox and Distributel, and Quebecor’s Videotron grabbed VMedia as it looks poised to be the purchaser of Freedom Mobile in the Shaw sale to Rogers. Rogers’s acquisition of Shaw would see Telus competing against a more formidable player in its home territory.
But Bell’s chief financial officer said in September that the consolidation in the industry is not reducing competition.
“There’s a very large reseller market… I think there’s 950 competitors in Canada,” Glen LeBlanc said at the time. “The barriers to entry are minimal, the largest is still in business – TekSavvy – and appears to have zero intention of selling.”
