Winnipeg-based telecommunications companyMTS Allstream Inc. announced on Monday the acquisition of video conferencing technology provider ICU Technologies Inc.in a continued effort to strengthen its unified communications offerings, the company said.
“We’re always looking for growth opportunities and this lines up well with the unified communications portfolio, and strongly enhances the video aspect of the business,” said the company’s general manager of unified communications, Tom Jolly.
While MTS Allstream feels it is where it needs to be in terms of voice and data infrastructure offerings, video conferencing service offerings aren’t as strong, said Jolly.
“Our integrated solutions will build on MTS Allstream’s existing video capabilities,” said Bob Sayer, president of ICU Technologies.
Other vendors in the space were considered, but ICU Technologies, said Jolly, was “very complementary” to where the company was experiencing growth in the video conferencing business, namely the Greater Toronto Area.
The company’s foray into the space, he said, was driven in part by maturing technology in recent years, increased interest in robust video services among customers who were also upgrading their data infrastructure in order to support such services.
“We think it’s going to be a significant growth market over the next few years.”
ICU Technologies is the company’s second acquisition in the unified communications space in the past three months. Its acquisition last November of Montr