Manitoba Telecom Services, Inc. (MTS) has been working on re-positioning itself for a while now. Several months ago they purchased valuable 15MHz of paired AWS-1 spectrum from Wind and just two weeks ago they ended a two-year struggle to sell off Allstream, Inc. to Zayo Group Canada, Inc. in a $465 million cash transaction. Jay Forbes, President and CEO of MTS said, “We are pleased to successfully conclude this transaction and fully deliver on our commitment to complete the turnaround and planned exit from Allstream, with the value of the business fully realized.” He also said that this would help MTS “to continue our transformation to become a true, customer-first organization…” That is what MTS is striving to do – position the company to become more customer focused and at the same time be in a better position to expand their services to generate more income. This influx of cash will certainly be a huge boost to the company and without Allstream, they will be in a better position to focus on their wireless mobile business.
Jay said, “In the last twelve months we’ve taken a number of steps to get back to being a customer-focused company that is the first choice for Manitobans. We expanded our network to over 30 Manitoba communities, we launched our province’s first Uptime Institute Tier-III Design Certified data centre, and we introduced a new flagship store at Polo Park that gives customers the ability to experience new products and services first hand. Today, we’re taking the next step by refreshing our brand to make it more customer-focused, and reflect the new culture at MTS.” This week’s launch will include MTS’ new tagline, “We’re with you.”
MTS has approximately 500,000 wireless subscribers and about 419,000 of those are the postpaid variety. They launched their LTE network in 2012 and it now covers over 1 million Manitobans or about 78-percent of the province. Besides wireless mobile services, MTS also provides Internet, TV, home phone and security. MTS is Manitoba’s only local provider and they believe they can best service the local customers. Mr. Forbes said that “Our customers will be the driver behind everything we do as we work to earn their business at every interaction. Each of our employees is committed to our brand characteristics of being open, helpful, dedicated and accountable. We live alongside our customers. We’re their neighbours. We’re with you.”