Rogers Snaps Up Call-Net Enterprises

Alan Breznick, Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

May 12, 2005

1 Min Read
Rogers Snaps Up Call-Net Enterprises

Seeking to jumpstart its entry into the voice-over-IP (VoIP) business this summer, Rogers Communications plans to buy Call-Net Enterprises in an all-stock deal worth about $330 million. The two companies announced the deal Wed. in Toronto. The parent company of Sprint Canada, Call-Net provides home phone and local business service, IP data, long distance and wireless services to about 600,000 consumers and companies across Canada, mainly in areas served by Rogers Cable. Call-Net also owns a 14,000-kilometer fiber-optic network that stretches across Canada and the U.S., as well as more than 150 central office co-location points in Canada's largest markets. Rogers executives said the pact positions the company to offer primary line phone service to both residential and business subscibers on its cable and wireless platforms. MSO plans call for moving Call-Net customers to Rogers' new VoIP platform "when advantageous." Rogers officials also expect to realize cost savings from the deal, including reduced payments to incumbent and other telecom providers.

About the Author(s)

Alan Breznick

Cable/Video Practice Leader, Light Reading

Alan Breznick is a business editor and research analyst who has tracked the cable, broadband and video markets like an over-bred bloodhound for more than 20 years.

As a senior analyst at Light Reading's research arm, Heavy Reading, for six years, Alan authored numerous reports, columns, white papers and case studies, moderated dozens of webinars, and organized and hosted more than 15 -- count 'em --regional conferences on cable, broadband and IPTV technology topics. And all this while maintaining a summer job as an ostrich wrangler.

Before that, he was the founding editor of Light Reading Cable, transforming a monthly newsletter into a daily website. Prior to joining Light Reading, Alan was a broadband analyst for Kinetic Strategies and a contributing analyst for One Touch Intelligence.

He is based in the Toronto area, though is New York born and bred. Just ask, and he will take you on a power-walking tour of Manhattan, pointing out the tourist hotspots and the places that make up his personal timeline: The bench where he smoked his first pipe; the alley where he won his first fist fight. That kind of thing.

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