Indigenous businesses plan to take ownership of Northwestel

A consortium of Indigenous companies from the Yukon, NWT and Nunavut has announced plans to buy Northwestel.

Sixty North Unity said in a Tuesday news release it intends to acquire the North’s main telecommunications service from Bell Canada. The consortium said that will make Northwestel the world’s largest telecoms company with full Indigenous ownership.

“As Indigenous people, we have long believed we are best placed to make the necessary decisions affecting services in our communities,” Sixty North Unity’s Tiffany Eckert-Maret was quoted as saying. Eckert-Maret, from the Yukon, is leading the bid alongside the NWT’s Darrell Beaulieu and Nunavut’s David Omilgoitok.

“The acquisition of Northwestel will give us autonomy to make those investments and choices to serve our telecommunications needs into the future,” said Eckert-Maret.

According to the news release, the transaction will be worth up to $1 billion in cash. Closing of the sale is subject to conditions and Bell said it plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt.

Sixty North Unity said it is planning “significant capital investment” to improve connectivity across the North. It said that will include doubling internet speeds to one gigabit per second for fibre customers, expanding high-speed internet availability to more than 97 percent of homes in the Yukon and NWT, and offering low-Earth orbit satellite technology to satellite-served communities in the NWT and Nunavut, a development Northwestel had already been pursuing.

The consortium added it will invest $4 million into a project that aims to develop a submarine fibre line across Great Slave Lake to Yellowknife, providing redundancy if the main fibre line along the highway is disrupted.

Sixty North Unity said it intends to maintain Northwestel’s employee base and increase Indigenous representation in the workforce through training and mentorship.

“This monumental step towards economic reconciliation will see direct benefits stay in northern Indigenous communities,” Curtis Shaw, president of Northwestel, said in a statement.

“I can’t wait to see what advancements this new partnership will bring to northern Canadians.”

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