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The
name Télébec originated with the first telephone company
to operate a municipal system in the town of Bécancour, "Téléphone Bécancour", which
was founded in 1965 by a group of businessmen. Three years later, Télébec
merged with seven other phone companies: Téléphone Princeville
ltée, Télécommunication Richelieu ltée, Téléphone
de Contrecoeur ltée, Compagnie de Téléphone La Tuque
ltée, Télécommunications de l'Est ltée, Compagnie
de Téléphone Arthabaska ltée, and Compagnie de Téléphone
Pontiac ltée.
The
merger of these eight companies gave birth to a new enterprise, which
immediately adopted the name Télébec ltée at its
incorporation on May 1, 1969.
Other
territories were added to the Télébec network in quick succession:
Fermont in 1972 and Manseau in 1973. Over this period, Télébec
also made a colossal effort to unite into a single, functional entity
all of the disparate elements inherited or acquired since its beginnings.
The company integrated the employees of numerous companies scattered between
the Magdalen Islands and Shawville in the Upper Ottawa Valley, harmonized
the rates, standardized the administrative structures, and urgently renewed
large segments of its new network.
In
1976, Télébec merged with Téléphone du Nord
du Québec inc., the company serving the Abitibi-Témiscamingue
region. In just seven years, Télébec had grown from 35,000
to 86,000 customers.
Following
this major milestone, Télébec began to consolidate its growth
by stepping up its acquisitions across Québec. In 1979, the company
received approval to serve the areas of Petite-Nation, Château-Richer,
Campbell's Bay and Saint-Sébastien. The same year, Télébec
acquired La Compagnie de téléphone d'Ungava in Schefferville.
In
1980, Télébec acquired certain assets of La Compagnie de téléphone
de Champlain, Les Lignes Kébec inc., La Compagnie de téléphone
de Saint-Méthode-de-Frontenac, followed by La Compagnie de téléphone
de Saint-Norbert-d'Arthabaska in 1981. The next year, Téléphone
Saint-Evariste joined the network, and in 1985, Sotel inc. - which served
the James Bay area - came under Télébec rule.
Since
then, Télébec has managed the largest territory served by
a telecommunications company in Québec. From James Bay to the Magdalen
Islands in the north, from Venise-en-Québec in the south, to Saint-André-Avellin
in the west, an area encompassing 750,000 kilometers square and 300 municipalities,
Télébec now offers integrated and innovative telecommunications
services to more than 150,000 residential and business customers.
Télébec is now a member of the Bell Aliant Regional Communications group, since February 2007.
Subsidiaries
These
acquisitions of regional businesses that have since become Télébec's
subsidiaries or partners, the strategic mergers and integrations, combined
with the creativity of its employees, have contributed tremendously to
the remarkable growth and the modernization of the Télébec
service offering.
Thus,
in 1996, Télébec created its first subsidiary, Télébec
Mobilité, to offer customers high-quality wireless telecommunications.
Serving the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region primarily, Télébec
Mobilité provides cellular services and other wireless technologies
to Mont-Laurier, La Tuque and the Magdalen Islands. Télébec
Mobilité is expected to grow exponentially in the next five years.
Télébec's
unique expertise has also developed thanks to its ties with its other
subsidiaries and partners: Liens Internet
du Nord-Ouest (L.I.N.O) inc., now called Télébec Internet, for Internet solutions; Logicon
Rouyn (1995) inc., now called Télébec Informatique, and Informatique
Hamel inc., a subsidiary of Télébec Informatique, for network and automated solutions; Electro-Vision
(La Tuque) inc., Télécâble Blouin inc. and Câble
Média Plus inc., for cable distribution services; and Centre
d'Interaction Proximédia inc., a call center and customer interaction
network
In
2000, the acquisition of Câblevision
du nord de Québec (CVNQ) - the largest cable company in Abitibi-Témiscamingue,
with 50 or so employees and 32,000 subscribers - and the integration with Northern
Telephone and its 250 employees and 65,000 customers are a tangible
demonstration of the vitality and entrepreneurial spirit of Télébec,
a company that has carved itself a choice position in the world of telecommunications.
Names harmonization for the subsidiaries
Convergence in the telecommunications industry and Télébec's desire to meet the needs of its customers by offering simple, integrated, and easily accessible services have resulted in a new course for the company in January 2003: Télébec is harmonizing the names and logos of its subsidiaries.
Besides their logo changes, Lino (Lien Internet du Nord-Ouest) becomes Télébec Internet and Logicon becomes Télébec Informatique. Télébec Mobilité also changes her logo to match the Télébec's family resemblance.

A division of Bell Aliant
Télébec's logo as an identifier for all telecommunications products and services offered by the company is gradually introduced from 2008 and May 1, 2009, a closer link is created with Bell Aliant with the descriptor "a division of Bell Aliant " added to the Télébec logo.

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