For sale: Toronto Hydro Telecom, IT World Canada.
I doubt the carriers will be interested in buying OneZone — it’s a lot of expensive infrastructure that’s not actually worth much strategically.
I wonder if this’ll be the first “muni” network that gets sold off? (It wasn’t a real muni network in the first place, and this ensures that no one will ever again make that mistake!)
Your information is inaccurate.
You have mentioned that the Toronto Hydro Telecom network “wasn’t a real muni network in the first place”.
What information do you have to make this statement?
Toronto Hydro Telecom is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toronto Hydro Corp.
Toronto Hydro is a public asset owned by the city, paid for by ratepayers. The Telecom network is a 100% municipally owned network!
The public should have the final say in whether or not to sell Telecom since they own the asset, NOT the Toronto Hydro Board of Directors.
Concerned Citizen.
Phyber: Toronto Hydro Telecom doesn’t call it a muni network. There’s no mechanism for input from the public, there was no public consultation, and there has never been any attempt to provide subsidized access for the poor, or any of the other civic-oriented initiatives that we’ve come to expect from muniwireless networks. It’s being operated as a commercial network — which is owned by a company which just *happens* to be owned by the City of Toronto.
If you’ve read any of the other posts on this blog on the topic, you know that we’re all for accountability to citizens. The City of Toronto and Toronto Hydro apparently don’t see it that way.
its not just about the onezone. Toronto Hydro owns 5,000+ km of fibre in Toronto. That’s the gold. Sadly this public infrastructure is a proven solution for Neutral Public Network Access (Stockholm, Eindoven, Tokyo). If Rogers or Bell decides to buy that they will have the fibre backbone necessary to increase their own capacity as is so desperately needed on OUR tax dollars at a discount. Although , likely it will be http://www.atrianetworks.com , they just acquired Ottawa Hydro’s 4,000+km fibre network for 63M$.
imo, this is a BIG DEAL.