Aliant
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Image:Aliant logo.gif Aliant Inc. Template:Tsx is a communications company providing services in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, and is Atlantic Canada's largest publicly traded company.
Aliant was formed from the 1999 merger of Maritime Telephone and Telegraph Company (MTT), Island Telecom, Bruncor (parent of NBTel), and NewTel Enterprises (parent of NewTel Communications), the four main incumbent telephone companies in the Atlantic region. It is approximately 53% owned by Bell Canada. Image:Aliant tower.jpg Until 1999, Aliant Communications was the name of a small telephone company serving Lincoln, Nebraska and area, which was acquired that year by ALLTEL. Following this acquisition, Aliant Communications adopted the ALLTEL brand and transferred its rights in the Aliant name to the newly-merged Canadian entity.
Aliant now has many services such as high-speed and dial-up internet access, wireless and wireline telephone service, and IPTV cable television. Its main rivals are the region's incumbent cable providers - EastLink (N.S. / P.E.I.), Rogers Communications (N.B. / N.L. and wireless services across the region), and Persona (rural N.L.). Image:Maritime Center Parking Lot.JPG On March 7, 2006, Bell and Aliant announced plans to merge Aliant's operations into those of Bell. Specifically, the Aliant wireless and retail (DownEast) networks will be merged into the Bell Mobility and Bell World operations, respectively, while Aliant, which will be converted into an income trust, will acquire Bell's "regional" landline operations (i.e. outside of major city centres) in Ontario and Quebec.
Bell will own roughly 45% of the trust, with existing Aliant shareholders owning 26.5%, and the remainder of units being distributed directly to BCE shareholders, but Bell will continue to exercise management control. Following the conversion, the Aliant brand will be used by both the new trust and by Bell Mobility in Atlantic Canada, with the trust licensing the Bell brand for use elsewhere.
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