Cogeco Connexion, a subsidiary of Cogeco Communications, has committed $7 million to offer its internet services to more than 4,600 businesses and homes in Hawkesbury and Southwestern Ontario.
Cogeco says the investment will connect 1,000 homes and businesses in Southwestern Ontario, serving the communities of Amherst Pointe and Willow Beach in Amherstburg, and Cedarhurst Park and Cedar Island in Kingsville, and an additional 3,600 homes and businesses in Vankleek Hill, L’Original and Chute-a-Blondeau in the Hawkesbury area.
“This investment allows us to continue pursuing our ambition to extend our regional footprint,” Frederic Perron, president of Cogeco Connexion, noted in a press release.
The company recently also announced an investment of over $4.5 million in fibre network deployment of 173 km to connect 4,500 homes in Val-des-Monts and approximately 500 homes in Lac à la Truite and Lac Rond.
Both of these investments are a part of Cogeco Communications’ four-year commitment, announced last year, to invest over $1 billion in operation and expansion of its Canadian broadband network, to extend its regional high-speed Internet coverage across Ontario and Quebec, says the company.
Cogeco’s expansion plans come after Rogers Communications and New York-based cable company Altice USA went public on Sept.2 with a proposed $10.3 billion acquisition of Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc. The Montreal-based company swiftly rejected the takeover proposal.
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Rogers’ second attempt at entering Quebec rejected by Cogeco
“As the designated representative of the Audet family, who holds controlling shares of Cogeco Inc. and, indirectly, Cogeco Communications Inc., I want to provide absolute clarity for stakeholders regarding our intentions in response to the recent unsolicited proposal to acquire Cogeco. Our shares are not for sale. And let me be clear, our refusal is not a negotiating position, it is definitive,” Louis Audet, executive chairman of the board of Cogeco and Cogeco Communications, had noted in a Sept. 7 press release.
According to the Globe and Mail, a senior executive at Cogeco says a hostile takeover bid by Rogers Communications Inc. was designed to remove a potential wireless competitor from the market and could damage Rogers’ reputation with its Quebec customers and other potential acquisition targets.