The Town of Olds recently announced it has reached a deal with Telus Communications to buy O-NET.
As per the requirements of the Municipal Government Act, the Town will provide an opportunity for the public to provide feedback on this decision to sell O-NET – a municipally controlled corporation.
Brent Williams, Chief Administrative Officer with the Town of Olds, points out that even though it is unlikely it would change the outcome, the public forum and information session is part of the process. He says “the Town of Olds as the sole shareholder of Olds Fibre Ltd., also known as O-NET, has reached an agreement with Telus Communications for a share purchase of the organization.”
The public forum and information session is coming up on Tuesday, November 5th at 3pm in the Town of Olds council chambers and it will have members from the Town, O-NET, and Telus on hand for it. The deadline to register to speak at the meeting is Friday, November 1st at 3pm. To register to speak at the meeting, to submit statements, or to ask questions send an email to [email protected].
Williams highlights that as part of the sale agreement with Telus, at the request of Telus as per its policies, the sale price must be kept confidential by the Town of Olds. However, he says “given our public sector financial disclosure requirements, our 2024 Financial Statements which generally come out in April or May of 2025 will have all of that information and then shortly thereafter we will do a robust accounting of the Town’s expense overlay for Olds Fibre Ltd. since its inception, essentially.”
Williams was asked what this means for O-NET and the Town of Olds. He says “in the immediate term, it means that Telus will be assuming the operations of O-NET and that the business will be carried on ‘as is’ by Telus instead of the corporation that was owned by the Town of Olds. For the Town of Olds, it means that we have decided to unload this corporation and the associated risks and opportunities that came with it.”
Williams thinks the legacy of Olds Fibre Limited and O-NET is intact. It was the first community owned broadband network in Canada and he notes the volunteers and the community who started it and worked so hard over the years to establish it and operate it did something special. He says “it may not seem like it today, as we sell the company but the tangible and intangible benefits that brought to Olds have been significant and we can’t down play that at all. The Town is grateful to those volunteers still to this day who took that initiative and made something that was a dream into a reality.”
Williams adds, the acquisition process run by the Town of Olds included engaging with multiple firms and Telus came forward with a proposal that was recommended by the Board of Directors of Olds Fibre Limited and that council accepted. He says “it was a strategic decision that certainly wasn’t made lightly. When Town council was provided the challenges and opportunities facing O-NET and compared that to the challenges and opportunities facing the Town, in terms of our infrastructure and services, a decision had to be made on whether we were going to invest into O-NET to upgrade its infrastructure to better service its customer base to grow its customer base and therefore its revenue. The Town decided that the investment couldn’t be justified based on the other needs the Town has so the decision was made to start a process, led by a third party professional firm to market O-NET to the telecommunications sector.”
