Storm Internet gains national presence through acquisition and reseller deal

Storm Internet Services is taking its ISP services to the national arena, a move made possible through an acquisition and a reseller agreement that the company signed last week. The Ottawa-based ISP made the two deals with WiBand Communications giving it access to its western Canadian wireless network on a reseller basis and also acquiring its eastern operations. Winnipeg-based WiBand, which recently merged with the OA Group of Edmonton (RoW Update, Oct. 9/01), has been primarily a wireless Internet access provider in Ontario and Western Canada, but also provides access to a national fibre backbone. Acquiring WiBand’s wireless facilities was a major incentive for the deal, says Storm president and CEO Barry Williams, adding that WiBand was more focused on the wireless space than Storm and that provided some definite advantages. "Certainly (wireless) is a terrific enabler. It allows us to go places and do things other more traditional ISPs and carriers aren’t able to do," he says. But the acquisition of facilities was also complemented by the joint reseller agreement. "It’s a big part of the deal," Williams tells Report on Wireless. "So by focusing our capabilities (in Eastern Canada combined) with WiBand’s presence in Western Canada, it’s certainly going to give us a national presence and a lot more services that can be offered." Details regarding customer additions and potential revenue increases were not released, but Williams says the increase in subscribers was significant. On the revenue side, when the OA Group announced its acquisition of WiBand in October, the company noted that WiBand would be adding about $5 million to OA’s bottom line. WiBand had a large presence in Ontario and a significant portion of its wireless network coverage was in the Greater Toronto Area. Williams admits, however, that entering the GTA market is "a bit of a departure" from the company’s traditional tier-two and tier-three service areas. Despite the fact that urban centres are primarily served by wired solutions like cable and DSL, there are some exciting opportunities in the GTA, Williams says. "But certainly the clientele seems to be there and WiBand’s existing footprint needs to be expanded and enhanced and there’s still an awful lot of regions of Toronto that don’t have adequate levels of service." Expanding both domestically and internationally in the future Storm Internet, a subsidiary of Ottawa-based International Datacasting Corp. (IDC), has traditionally served less populated areas in Ontario, but has been making a move to connect some of the larger small cities together. In recent years, it has successfully built out its network from Ottawa to Brockville, out to Renfrew and to Hawkesbury. Soon the company will have a much greater urban presence especially from southern to eastern Ontario and into Quebec, says Williams. "We’re bringing on Cornwall hopefully by the end of the year," he says, adding that the company is close to reaching Montreal. But Williams is looking beyond Canadian borders as well. He says the efforts of Storm Internet’s parent company in international markets such as Latin America, Europe, and Asia could be beneficial for his company. Using IDC’s already extensive international presence presents advantages in trying to expand into other regions of the world, he adds. More partnerships on the horizon Domestically, the company will likely stick with partnerships as a key element of its expansion strategy, says Williams. "What we like to do and what we’ve done extensively in the Ottawa area – in eastern Ontario – is partner with the smaller ISPs to give them an opportunity to be in the game," he explains. "We leave a lot on the table for the ISPs to continue doing their business and to provide the service that their customers need," he adds.

Storm Internet gains national presence through acquisition and reseller deal

News | 12/11/2001 5:00 am EST

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