Iristel’s Rapid Growth Accelerates With Two Acquisitions

Toronto-based Trutel and Montreal’s Exelia join fold of Canada’s fastest-growing telecommunications company



Markham, ON, November 22, 2016 – Iristel Inc., Canada’s largest and fastest-growing Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), is pleased to announce the dual acquisition of dynamic telecommunications firms Trutel Inc. in Toronto and Montreal-based Exelia Inc.

“Iristel is committed to providing Canadians with the most advanced Internet-based solutions that deliver reliable and cost-effective voice and data services and both Trutel’s suite of products and services and Exelia’s excellence in serving the SMB market enhance our ability to do so,” said Iristel President Samer Bishay. “Our culture is not one filled with ‘old phone guys’ and neither is Trutel’s or Exelia’s. These two companies are strong strategic fits.”

Terms of the deals between the privately-held companies were not disclosed, but Trutel President Frank Auciello will be joining Iristel as VP Networks and Infrastructure, and Exelia founders Dimitri Stathis and Harry Villeneuve come on board as VP Enterprise Strategy and Operations, and VP Enterprise Sales, respectively. Stathis will also be responsible for managing Iristel’s Montreal office.

“My team and I are excited to be joining such a forward-looking organization that is the only carrier in Canada with facilities stretching from the Atlantic to Pacific to Arctic oceans,” Mr. Auciello said. “Trutel opened its doors in January 2000 and we’ve evolved over the years from a professional services firm to a Managed Services Provider to a CRTC-licensed, facilities-based CLEC. Joining Iristel is the next phase of the evolution in getting to the next level and leveraging the latest technologies to benefit customers.”

Mr. Stathis said Exelia was created to address the growing challenges and frustrations that small and medium-sized businesses face when dealing with information and communication technologies. “We’re excited to be teaming up with Iristel, a rapid-growing entrepreneurial company that understands the needs of SMB owners and managers. Throughout our careers, both Harry and I have delivered services to tens of thousands of small businesses in Canada and found they need more than just service providers. They need responsive partners offering real enterprise solutions to their business challenges. Iristel understands this and if the big, stodgy telco incumbents aren’t already looking over their shoulders, they should be,” Mr. Stathis says.

In the 21st century digital world of cloud-based VoIP technologies, geography means nothing when delivering services. “But building up our presence further in the Toronto-Montreal corridor, the heart of corporate Canada, is important because dealing with customers face to face when needed remains good, sound business,” Mr. Bishay says.

About Iristel

Founded in 1999 and licenced by the CRTC, Markham-based Iristel is Canada’s only carrier with facilities in all 10 provinces and three territories with a network extending Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast. It is the majority owner of Ice Wireless, a facilities-based mobile network operator that delivers state-of-the-art 3G/4G HSPA+ technology to rural and remote areas in Canada’s North with LTE coming in 2017.

For more information, please visit www.iristel.com.