Page 34 - Canadian Industry Online

CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - OCTOBER 2015 VIANET: CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF PROVIDING INTERNET TO RURAL ONTARIANSI N A T I M E when communica- tions technology was just startingto boom, a company in Ontario got into the market with a grand vision: to take on the major telecommunications players in Canada and develop IT and tech services for rural customers.President Will Gasteiger started Vianet 25 years ago in Sudbury. The company provides telecommunication product offerings including high speed internet, television and telephone ser- vices. Vianet is federally regulatedin the areas of telephone and televi- sion service, operating under CRTC approval as a Competitive Local Ex- change Carrier (CLEC or telephone company) and Broadcasting Distribu- tion Unit (BDU or cable company). The company has more than 150 employ- ees across the province.It was in 1995 that Vianet started providing internet services. The com- pany used dialup and was considered to be a pioneer in competitive broad- band service. “Vianet was one of the original ISPs to first offer Third Party Internet Access (TPIA) over a cable provider’s network in 1998, more than 10 years before TPIA access on cable34