Bell announced Thursday afternoon that it was acquiring rival Ebox, the province’s largest regional Internet service provider, for an undisclosed sum. What will be the effect on the price of Internet services in Quebec?
In the press release announcing this transaction, Bell wants to be reassuring and specifies that Ebox will continue to serve its residential customers in Quebec and in the regions of Ontario where the brand is already present.
In the process, Jean-Philippe Béïque and Dominic Létourneau, the two co-founders of Ebox, announced their departure from the company.
It is Thiago De Souza, vice-president and general manager of Ebox, who takes over as the main manager of the supplier whose head office is in Longueuil. “We are pleased to join the Bell family and continue the work done by Dominic and Jean-Philippe over the past 25 years,” De Souza said in a statement.
The regional provider, which uses, as the case may be, the network infrastructure of Bell but also of Quebecor to offer its service in various regions of Eastern Canada, will henceforth benefit from increased access to the Bell network.
In Quebec, where Quebecor and Bell are the two main competitors in the home Internet services market. Quebecor recently made significant gains through its low-cost subsidiary Fizz, which offers basic services at reduced prices.
Ebox, which until now has positioned itself as an independent rival to Fizz in this market, will enable Bell to respond to Fizz’s growing popularity.
“The acquisition of Ebox further strengthens Bell’s presence in Quebec, a key market for our company,” said Karine Moses, Bell’s vice-president for Quebec, also in a press release.
Representatives for Bell and Ebox have not responded to interview requests at this time. Homework.
More details will follow.