WiMacTel said it is going to launch an alternative payphone service to businesses and municipalities in Canada after it had bought some assets of the Canada Payphone Corporation or CPC. The price tag for the acquisition was not disclosed.
Based in Calgary, Alberta, WiMacTel is one of the biggest pay phone providers in North America. The independent nationwide telecommunications firm said in a statement that it had purchased the payphone assets of CPC in Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec.
The statement said that the newly-bought payphones will be operating under the WiMacTel Brand. They will undergo an upgrade to the Millennium payphone technology of the company and will feature visual displays and card readers. The upgraded payphones will be able to accept the new Loonie coin as well. The phones will be placed in such locations as shopping malls, convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, hotels, bars, recreational complexes, entertainment centers, movie theaters, drop in centers and oil sands camps.
Aside from providing the physical payphones, WiMacTel also gives the services that make payphone operation possible. These include operator services, long distance, directory assistance, wireless dial tone and a staff for repair and collection.
Commenting on the acquisition, WiMacTel Chief Executive Officer James MacKenzie said in the statement, "We believe in the need and value of public telephony. It is a reality that not all Canadians will own a cellphone; many individuals have the need to carefully manage their prepaid cellular minutes; losing a cellphone or a dead cellphone battery is a common occurrence; and travellers want to avoid high roaming costs. A payphone provides a solution to satisfy all of these realities."
Executive Vice President John Wilson also said that WiMacTel understands that telephone companies don't consider payphones as strategically important. "[W]e are pleased to provide a viable alternative for site owners that want a payphone that has been removed by the phone company or simply want better service," he added.
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