Mountain Cablevision
 | |
| Industry | Media and Communications |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1959 |
| Defunct | 2009 |
| Fate | Merged |
| Successor | Shaw Communications(system later resold toRogers Communications) |
| Headquarters | Hamilton,Greater Toronto Area,Niagara Region |
| Products | Cable TV,Internet,Telecommunications,Broadcasting |
Mountain Cablewas one of threecable televisionservice providers for the city ofHamilton, Ontarioand its surrounding area, specifically theHamilton Mountainarea andHaldimand County.Its operations were acquired byShaw Communicationsin 2009, which then resold them toRogersin 2013. The other two providers in the Hamilton area areCogecoandSource Cable(formerly known as Southmount Cable).
History[edit]
Mountain Cable was founded in 1959 as "General Co-axial Services, Limited"; it specialized in installing Master Antenna systems onapartment buildings,hotels,andresorts.[citation needed]
That same year, The Ontario Housing Corporation (which designed the Buchanan ParksubdivisiononHamilton Mountain) was surveying the possibility of building a whole housing project with no above-ground utilities (placing them all underground to improve safety and reliability during storms). The neighbourhood's homeowners approached the company to have General Co-axial Services install aCATVsystem with the intention of an alternative to bulky and somewhat unsightly roof-topantennas.The homeowners also asked the company to lay the first neighbourhood-wide underground utility lines. The neighbourhood would become the first housing development in all ofCanadathat would have all of its utilities placed underground, with noutility polesother thanstreet lights.Within two years, over three quarters of the homes in the subdivision were linked to the CATV system.[citation needed]
In July 2009,Shaw Communicationsannounced that it would acquire Mountain Cablevision for $300 million.[1]In September 2009,Rogers Communicationssued Shaw to block the sale, arguing that it violated anon-competition agreementwhich specified that Rogers and Shaw would only operate cablesystems in Eastern and Western Canada respectively. The suit was thrown out, with a judge ruling that the agreement wasanti-competitive,and that claims of future harm based on possible Eastern acquisitions by Shaw were "speculative in the extreme".[2][3]
In January 2013, as part of a larger series of transactions between the two companies, it was announced that Rogers had acquired Mountain Cablevision for $400 million.[4][1]
In 2014, Rogers began migrating Mountain customers into Rogers service, although the transition was criticized by some users for resulting in technical issues with their services.[5]
Services[edit]
In addition to their cable television services, Mountain Cable also offereddigital phoneandhigh-speed internetservices.
Community television[edit]
The local cable television stationCable 14was partially owned and carried by Mountain; it continued to be partially owned and carried by Shaw, and now Rogers.
References[edit]
- ^ab"CRTC approves Shaw's deal to gain full control of TVtropolis from Rogers".Financial Post.11 June 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 29 March 2017.Retrieved28 March2017.
- ^"Rogers sues to block Shaw's Ontario cable buy".CBC News.10 September 2009.Retrieved27 March2017.
- ^"Rogers' territorial lawsuit against Shaw quashed".CBC News.21 September 2009.Retrieved27 March2017.
- ^"Shaw hangs up on its cellular plans".The Globe and Mail.January 14, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 16 February 2013.Retrieved13 January2016.
- ^"Rogers switchover a 'headache' for Mountain customers".Hamilton Spectator.Retrieved28 March2017.