Canadian cableco Cogeco has signed an agreement to acquire iTeract, a full telecommunications service provider in southern Quebec which operates via fixed-wireless and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network technologies under the Internexe brand name. As part of the transaction, Cogeco will acquire 15 exclusive regional 3.5GHz spectrum licences – suitable for 5G development – for which the transfer has already been approved by Innovation, Science & Economic Development (ISED) Canada. iTeract’s network covers a wide area of rural southern Quebec and serves approximately 2,000 customers. For the time being, the Internexe brand will remain in place.
Cogeco’s Senior VP of Strategy and CTO Luc Noiseux commented: ‘iTeract’s network, spectrum licences and expertise will be complementary assets in our strategy to extend our regional and rural internet coverage and will further reinforce our position to enter the wireless market in a disciplined manner.’ The transaction – expected to close in the coming weeks – represents the third acquisition of spectrum licences by Cogeco over the last two years.