Councillor wants more transparency from Tbaytel
Secrecy involving sale not usual, industry expert says
The sale of the Dryden telephone mobility service to Tbaytel is a done deal, but Tbaytel has made no announcement. Confirmation only came Monday from Joe van Koeverden, the city manager in Dryden. He said the transaction was completed Friday.
Tbaytel has refused to reveal how much it paid the city of Dryden. Neither will it discuss how many customers it will gain for its network.
With the company facing competition from Bell, one city hall councillor said she would like Tbaytel to be more forthcoming.
"As a shareholder and, ultimately, the community is that shareholder, then I think that's due respect given back to them so that they have an idea of what is being transacted," said Coun. Rebecca Johnson. "They need to know that."
Good business move
The secrecy involving Tbaytel's takeover of the Dryden cellular service is not unusual, especially for a municipally-owned phone company, says a telecommunications expert
Roberta Fox, chief innovation officer and chairman of consulting firm Fox Group Technologies, said municipal telephone systems have more regulations to deal with, and are more restricted in what they can release.
"They have the same rules as the other [tele-communications companies] but they have additional rules on top of them," she said. Fox said municipal phone systems are more restricted in what they can release.
She noted Tbaytel has made a good move acquiring Dryden Mobility, but it will have to sharpen its pencil for its existing customers, now that there is competition in the Thunder Bay market.
Tbaytel is wholly owned by the City of Thunder Bay and employs more than 400 people in Thunder Bay. The company pays the city a minimum $17 million dividend annually, and sometimes more, based on its performance.
In the past it has advertised that it helps lower property taxes paid by homeowners.
The company never did release the price of its deal to buy out Rogers cellular contracts in Thunder Bay. However, CBC News was able to confirm, a year later, it paid Rogers more than $40 million.