Xplornet buys Brandon’s NetSet Communications

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/10/2017 (2963 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As a prelude to its launch of a wireless service in Manitoba next year, Xplornet Communications Inc. has acquired NetSet Communications of Brandon.

NetSet has a base of about 14,000 customers across the province. It provides rural, residential fixed-wireless broadband services that use the same technology platform Xplornet uses across the country with its 300,000-plus customers.

It’s Xplornet’s third acquisition this year, and the largest in the 13-year-old company’s history.

Terms and conditions of the deal were not disclosed.

“We believe our customers share much in common,” said Allison Lenehan, president and CEO of Xplornet. “Like Xplornet, NetSet’s customers live in rural and remote communities and just outside of major centres. We are committed to continuing the proud legacy that NetSet has established in the province of Manitoba.”

NetSet customers will get access to satellite internet and home phone services, not to mention Xplornet’s new mobile wireless service slated to launch in Manitoba next year.

The company’s name will stay the same. It will continue to do business as NetSet Communications under Xplornet ownership. All 85 of the 16-year-old company’s employees will be retained. The Brandon office will become Xplornet’s Manitoba regional headquarters.

A significant deal for Xplornet in its own right, the acquisition sets the stage for its entrance into the Manitoba mobile wireless market. As part of the Competition Bureau’s approval of Bell’s acquisition of MTS earlier this year, Bell agreed to sell 24,700 wireless customers, as well as wireless spectrum and six retail outlets, to New Brunswick-based Xplornet.

It will be the company’s first foray into the mobile wireless market. It has not disclosed the extent of investment it is preparing to make in Manitoba, but has said cell towers are being built and an ongoing investment will be necessary to expand its infrastructure in the province.

The NetSet deal will give Xplornet a base of about 200 towers that have been upgraded to LTE standards and will require only the addition of equipment to allow it to connect to a new mobile network in Manitoba.

Xplornet, a privately held company, is in the middle of raising about $50 million in a new debt offering, some of which will be used to pay for the NetSet purchase.

NetSet’s founder and former CEO Charlie Clark has agreed to serve in an advisory role, supporting Xplornet’s business operations in the province.

“My job has been to look out for our clients, and with Xplornet, they will be able to take our service to the next level,” Clark said. “We’re all very excited.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca