Update on Sale of DMTS Services

Keep moving forward was the main message of last night’s public meeting regarding the sale of DMTS.
City Manager Joe van Koeverden addressed past and present issues that has surrounded the company.
He adds that it’s a smart move by the city to exit the business, which has cost the city too much money.
In 2012, the project loss of Dryden Mobility was $3,500,000, and that was not enough to upgrade to 3G and 4G investments.
A question that many residents have is how come council didn’t do something about this earlier.
Mayor Craig Nuttall says they were not aware of the figures, and have since hired a consultant from Toronto to evaluate DMTS.
Nuttall says while it’s sad to see, it’s a smarter move for the city and allows them to “exit the business gracefully”.
In regards to the offer from TBaytel for Dryden Mobility, Nuttall says a figure is “more then fair”, but cannot be revealed to the public.
With regards to the offer from TBaytel, the closing date will be October 22. The re-routing of customers to the new service will begin on October 25 and the final shutdown of Dryden Mobility will be December 21.
The story of the DMTS landline and internet services is a different story.
Van Koeverden has confirmed that there is no rate increases or changes at this moment, and that it will be a seamless transition to Bell Alliant.
The signing of the agreement will take place on October 3 at an open council meeting.
Throughout October and November, the union will be discussing the switchover.
Effective January 1, 2013 DMTS services will be closed.
Those currently working for DMTS will have a temporary office at the City Hall for three months, and then they must move to a new location.