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Canada's Cogeco Officially Enters U.S. Market
Completes $1.36 Billion Acquisition of Atlantic Broadband

Canadian Cable operator Cogeco Communications has officially entered the United States broadband market with their completed acquisition of Atlantic Broadband (see our user reviews) for $1.36 billion. According to a company press statement (pdf), their acquisition of the nation's 12th largest cable company gives them a foothold toward future U.S. growth.

"Cogeco Cable is a very solid company that has strong experience in our industry," insists Atlantic's Ed Holleran, who'll be staying on as CEO.

Cogeco hasn't exactly been winning hearts and minds in Canada or our forums the last few years, foisting metered billing on the back of their customers, and consistently raising rates. The company, which like many Canadian and U.S. ISPs benefits greatly from limited competition, went so far recently as to call smart shoppers who look for the best deal "undesirable."
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TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Expand TIPA

The question should be is are they going to expand TIPA. One would assume it would be easy to integrate the two companies to share one network in the end and ISPs.

Last Parade
join:2002-10-07
Port Colborne, ON

Last Parade

Member

Re: Expand TIPA

said by TBBroadband:

The question should be is are they going to expand TIPA. One would assume it would be easy to integrate the two companies to share one network in the end and ISPs.

you mean TPIA?
TBBroadband
join:2012-10-26
Fremont, OH

TBBroadband

Member

Re: Expand TIPA

yes.
HeadSpinning
MNSi Internet
join:2005-05-29
Windsor, ON

HeadSpinning

Member

Re: Expand TIPA

TPIA was forced on them - it isn't provided voluntarily. Why would they do something they don't want to do without being forced by the regulator?

J E F F4
Whatta Ya Think About Dat?
Premium Member
join:2004-04-01
Kitchener, ON

J E F F4 to TBBroadband

Premium Member

to TBBroadband
HAHA, suckers! Bit by bit, Canada *will* take over all of your internet and cable services...and you will forced to pay HUGE overage charges and be forced to watch Justin Beiber video's 24/7.

rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

rit56

Member

Business

This is bad
patt2k
join:2009-01-16

patt2k

Member

oh noes

expect Canadian caps ....

MarkAW
Barry White
Premium Member
join:2001-08-27
Canada

MarkAW

Premium Member

Re: oh noes

said by patt2k:

expect Canadian caps ....

...and high prices.

anon anon
@charter.com

anon anon to patt2k

Anon

to patt2k
said by patt2k:

expect Canadian caps ....

10 GB won't play here. Might as well go with satellite or mobile.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned) to patt2k

Member

to patt2k
said by patt2k:

expect Canadian caps ....

Somewhat of a blanket statement. Not all Canadian ISPs have pathetic caps, but this is the case for the major carriers in Ontario or Quebec. I'm in Ontario with an ISP that offers either 300GB cap + overage or unlimited.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

potential ripoff?

from ripping off the Canadian consumer to ripping off the American consumer? No thanks. I'd take Yahoo & Microsoft getting into tier-1 and last mile before Cogeco.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned)

Member

Re: potential ripoff?

said by tmc8080:

I'd take Yahoo & Microsoft getting into tier-1 and last mile before Cogeco.

That would be just as bad if not worse.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Re: potential ripoff?

said by 34764170:

said by tmc8080:

I'd take Yahoo & Microsoft getting into tier-1 and last mile before Cogeco.

That would be just as bad if not worse.

too bad it won't happen, but it's worth a bet..
I remember cogeco getting into squabbbles w/ level-3 on peering agreements before where cogeco was clearly in the wrong.. and what they do to Canadians is often much worse.

M/S & Yahoo would froth at the mouth to get into new markets with products. It certainly would be a challenge should google expand beyond the two state solution it currently has... (couldn't help but draw some global parallels here).
Os
join:2011-01-26
US

Os

Member

ABB Customer

As a silver lining, maybe the TV lineup will improve. Atlantic Broadband has been in a 4-year fight with Comcast SportsNet DC, so its MD customers are blacked out of the Capitals and Wizards, as well as many ACC telecasts.

But the internet has me worried. You can currently get uncapped 40/3 here. I still have 10/1, and I haven't changed anything just in case things do get really bad here soon. South Florida ABB has access to a 110/7 tier.

andyb
Premium Member
join:2003-05-29
SW Ontario

andyb

Premium Member

Re: ABB Customer

They will sell you off in a year or two anyway.They have never purchased anything outside of Canada that made money after they purchase it
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned)

Member

Re: ABB Customer

said by andyb:

They will sell you off in a year or two anyway.They have never purchased anything outside of Canada that made money after they purchase it

Because a total of one company gives them such a track record to make such a ridiculous assumption.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone to Os

Premium Member

to Os
said by Os:

As a silver lining, maybe the TV lineup will improve. Atlantic Broadband has been in a 4-year fight with Comcast SportsNet DC, so its MD customers are blacked out of the Capitals and Wizards, as well as many ACC telecasts.

Hate to burst your bubble, but if you've ever seen some of the protracted fights they've been in to secure carriage of channels, you wouldn't have such an optimistic outlook. Cogeco are cheap bastards. They'll hold out a long time before agreeing to pay more than what they want to.
said by Os:

But the internet has me worried. You can currently get uncapped 40/3 here. I still have 10/1, and I haven't changed anything just in case things do get really bad here soon. South Florida ABB has access to a 110/7 tier.

Best Cogeco does in any of their markets in Canada is 65/2 with a 250GB cap for just shy of $100/month. This, compared to Shaw, Rogers and Eastlink all offering 100+ speeds for less money. They used to be at the forefront when it came to the Internet side of things, being the first provider in the entire world to migrate their entire network over to DOCSIS, but in the last few years they've lagged behind in a serious way. The only thing keeping them afloat, at least in Ontario, is that Bell is even worse.
Os
join:2011-01-26
US

Os

Member

Re: ABB Customer

Eh, so basically what I'm used to.

The lineup I saw had a lot more sports programming than we get. Basically, all we get here outside of the basic stuff is the NFL Network.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone

Premium Member

Re: ABB Customer

We have must-carry cable channels where the owner of the network still receives a fee despite the carriage requirement. It's not the same as in the US.
zippoboy7
join:2006-06-18
USA

zippoboy7

Member

Re: ABB Customer

said by Gone:

We have must-carry cable channels where the owner of the network still receives a fee despite the carriage requirement. It's not the same as in the US.

That exists in the US as well but only for the local over the air channels and depending on what is in the franchise agreement with the city/state it can also include some local area government channels.
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned) to Gone

Member

to Gone
said by Gone:

Cogeco are cheap bastards. They'll hold out a long time before agreeing to pay more than what they want to.

It's that or your bill goes up by $20 or more for a small few channels when the greedy content producers want to renegotiate. There is very much two sides to this issue and this isn't specific to Cogeco. All of the providers have to deal with this issue.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone

Premium Member

Re: ABB Customer

said by 34764170:

It's that or your bill goes up by $20 or more for a small few channels when the greedy content producers want to renegotiate. There is very much two sides to this issue and this isn't specific to Cogeco. All of the providers have to deal with this issue.

Well, not really. Shaw, Rogers and Bell all have television networks and must-carry cable networks that they can use as pawns when negotiating BDU carriage. Cogeco doesn't have that luxury, so they either pay or they don't get it. I wouldn't be surprised if Cogeco ends up with Astral after Bell gets told to pound sand for a second time, though.

Cogeco are notorious for being cheap. That is specific to Cogeco. It took them years to carry the former Voom HD channels (I believe they were the last holdout in the entire country) because they didn't want to pay for them. They get zero sympathy from me.

caster 665
@dsl.net

caster 665

Anon

will they let you buy the box in the us systems??

will they let you buy the box in the us systems??