Rogers is acquiring Toronto-based internet service provider (ISP) Comwave, per an email sent to customers on November 8th.
A copy of the email shared on X (Twitter) by user Shahrooz Fermani revealed some details of the acquisition but did not include specific terms. You can read the email’s text in full below:
“Dear Customer,
“We are writing to share some exciting news about our future.
“Comwave has taken an important step in continuing to offer the great experience you have come to expect from us as your home internet, TV, and phone service provider, at an affordable price.
“After careful consideration, Comwave has signed an agreement to become part of Rogers
Communications.
“Comwave will continue to operate as we always have now with the strength of a nation-wide telecommunications leader behind us.
“Over the coming months, Rogers and Comwave will share plans to continue delivering quality home internet, TV, and phone services to customers. Our focus is on bringing together Rogers’ fast and reliable internet and entertainment services with the Comwave products you know and love to offer more choice and convenience.
“Rogers has committed to retaining our local presence across Ontario, Quebec, B.C., Alberta,
and Manitoba, and all of our existing staff moving forward.
“If you have any questions or need more information, our team will continue to be here to assist you.
“Our team is excited to begin this next chapter, and we look forward to sharing it with you.”
The email is signed by Comwave’s CEO, Yuval Barzakay, and Rogers’ vice president of service expansion and acquisition, Jerome Samuels.
Rogers confirmed to MobileSyrup that Comwave is now part of the company and will continue operating as they have.
Per the letter, Rogers has committed to allowing Comwave to operate independently, as well as to maintaining the ISP’s local presence in Ontario, Quebec, B.C., Alberta and Manitoba. Rogers also seems committed to maintaining Comwave staff, though the company’s recent merger history suggests that won’t happen.
An iPhone in Canada report claims Rogers and Comwave plan to reveal their collaborative efforts in the coming months.
Comwave is only the latest ISP gobbled up by a bigger telecom player. In the last few years, we’ve seen Bell acquire Distributel (and later shut down the ISP’s wholesale broadband service) and Ebox, Telus buy Start.ca and Altima, Eastlink scoop up NeoTech, Cogeco purchase Oxio, and those are just ISP-related acquisitions. There’s also Rogers’ merger with Shaw, which saw Freedom Mobile acquired by Vidéotron, as well as Rogers’ acquisition of BAI that sparked telco chaos over TTC wireless access.
Just this week, the CRTC ordered Bell and Telus to allow competitors wholesale access to their fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) networks in Ontario and Quebec. The commission noted a 47 percent decline in competition in those two provinces over the past two years.
Update November 8th, 2023 at 11:02am ET: Added confirmation of the acquisition from Rogers.
Header image credit: Comwave (screenshot)
Source: @SFermani1996
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