Glentel is a Canadian retail firm. Based in
Burnaby
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
, the company deals primarily as a retailer of
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
services.
In Canada, the company operates over 350 wireless outlets under the Tbooth Wireless (La cabine T sans-fil in Quebec, formerly The Telephone Booth) and WirelessWave (Wave sans fil in Quebec) brands, particularly in
mall kiosk
A retail kiosk (also referred to as a mall kiosk or retail merchandising unit, RMU) is a store operated out of a merchant-supplied kiosk of varying size and shapes, which is typically enclosed with the operator located in the center and customer ...
s. The company operates
store-within-a-store
A store-within-a-store, also referred to as shop-in-shop, is an agreement in which a retailer rents a part of the retail space to be used by a different company to run another, independent shop.
Origins
In the early days of cellular telephone gr ...
kiosks at Canadian
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...
locations under the Wireless etc. banner. Glentel outlets sell services from
Bell Mobility
Bell Mobility Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless network operator and the division of Bell Canada which offers wireless services across Canada. It operates networks using LTE (telecommunication), LTE and Evolved HSPA, HSPA+ on i ...
and
Rogers Wireless
Rogers Wireless Inc. is a Canadian mobile network operator, wireless telephone company headquartered in Toronto, providing service nationally throughout Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The company had revenues of ...
—who jointly own the company, along with their respective value brands (such as
Chatr Wireless
Chatr Mobile (stylized as chatr) is a Canadian mobile virtual network operator owned by Rogers Communications Canada targeting entry-level customers. It is one of three wireless brands owned by Rogers Communications, including Rogers Wireless, ...
,
Fido,
Lucky Mobile
Lucky Mobile is a Canadian prepaid mobile virtual network operator and a subsidiary of Bell Canada. Founded in December 2017, Lucky Mobile operates on the Bell Mobility network alongside fellow subsidiary Virgin Plus. It targets the same market seg ...
, and
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...
), and
SaskTel
Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corporation, operating as SaskTel, is a Canadian crown-owned telecommunications firm based in the province of Saskatchewan. Owned by the provincial government, it provides wireline and wireless communicati ...
in
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
.
For a time, it operated the Target Mobile kiosks at
Target Canada
Target Canada Co. was the Canadian subsidiary of the Target Corporation, the eighth-largest retailer in the United States. Formerly headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, the subsidiary was formed with the acquisition of Zellers store leases fr ...
locations until the chain's closure in 2015, and owned the Australian wireless retail chain Allphones, and U.S.
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
retailers Diamond Wireless and Wireless Zone.
On November 28, 2014,
BCE Inc.
BCE Inc., formerly Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., is a publicly traded Canadian holding company for Bell Canada, which includes telecommunications providers and various mass media assets under its subsidiary Bell Media Inc. Founded through a c ...
announced that it would acquire Glentel for $670 million, pending regulatory approval, in an effort to boost its retail presence.
[ After a dispute with Rogers, who argued that it was contractually required to consent to any change in ownership of the company, Bell announced that it would divest a 50% stake in Glentel to Rogers upon the closure of the acquisition, turning the company into a 50/50 ]joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
between the rival firms.
History
The company has its origins in Speedy Celtel, the company founded by Alan and Tom Skidmore as a retailer of Cantel, the country's first cellular carrier. In 1989, the company bought Glenayre, that was provider of business wireless hardware, and was re-named Glenayre Technologies. In 1992, the company's retail arm was spun-out as Glentel, and in 1997, it opened a Rogers Rogers may refer to:
Places
Canada
*Rogers Pass (British Columbia)
*Rogers Island (Nunavut)
United States
* Rogers, Arkansas, a city
* Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement
* Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated community
...
dealer at Metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big c ...
in Burnaby
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
known as WirelessWave. WirelessWave subsequently grew into a larger chain.
In 2005, Glentel acquired its Montreal-based rival Cabtel Corp., which operated as La Cabine Telephonique in Quebec, and The Telephone Booth in Alberta and Ontario. The deal added 49 stores to its holdings. In 2007, Glentel reached a multi-year agreement with Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...
Canada to operate wireless kiosks, branded as "Wireless, etc." at its locations.
In 2010, the company first expanded into the United States with its acquisition of Diamond Wireless, a chain of Verizon Wireless
Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the divi ...
retailers. In 2012, it acquired an 83% majority stake in AMT Group, an Australian operator of mobile retailers under the Allphones
Allphones was an Australian telecommunications retailer which specialised in offering a wide range of mobile and broadband related services across a range of carriers. The Allphones name is now only used for an online store, which is operated by Au ...
and Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...
brands. That year, Glentel acquired the U.S. firm Automotive Technologies Inc., doing business as Wireless Zone, which operated 421 Verizon Wireless retailers, for $83.3 million. Glentel also reached a deal to operate Target Mobile
Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compon ...
kiosks at the short-lived Target Canada
Target Canada Co. was the Canadian subsidiary of the Target Corporation, the eighth-largest retailer in the United States. Formerly headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, the subsidiary was formed with the acquisition of Zellers store leases fr ...
chain.
Acquisition by Bell and Rogers
On November 28, 2014, Bell Canada
Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...
announced that it would acquire Glentel for $670 million, pending regulatory and shareholder approval, in an effort to boost its retail presence. Bell also operates first-party retail outlets for its services, and owns The Source
''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...
, a Canadian electronics store chain that also sells Bell services. The company planned to continue serving as a retailer for non-Bell brands after the acquisition was completed.
On December 17, 2014, Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of mobile phone operator, wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet access, Intern ...
filed for an injunction
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in pa ...
against Glentel at the Ontario Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Ontario was a superior court of the Canadian province of Ontario. Created in 1881 pursuant to the Ontario Judicature Act (1881), the Supreme Court of Ontario had two branches: the High Court of Justice Division and the Appel ...
, seeking to have the acquisition blocked. It argued that pursuant to Glentel's supply agreements with the company, Rogers had to consent to any change in company ownership. The company also foresaw the possibility of Glentel's retailers showing favouritism towards Bell brands following the merger. Glentel CEO Tom Skidmore disputed Rogers' complaint, stating that "Rogers has the right to remove their products from our Canadian stores if they choose to terminate its agreement with us, but has no right under its agreement to block the acquisition of Glentel."
On December 24, 2014, Bell announced that they had reached a compromise, in which Rogers would acquire a 50% stake in Glentel upon completion of the purchase. The acquisition was completed on May 6, 2015.
In 2016, Wireless Zone was sold to Round Room, LLC. Diamond Wireless was also sold to A Wireless. In February 2017, Allphones went into receivership after being sold to a "Canadian shareholder" in May 2016.
References
External links
*
{{Rogers Communications
Telecommunications companies of Canada
Bell Canada
Rogers Communications
Companies based in Burnaby
Companies acquired by Bell Canada Enterprises
Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange