POWERTEL TO LOOK FOR AGENCY
By Adnews Staff
PowerTel TV of Toronto has filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to launch a multichannel multipoint distribution TV system in eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Once the application is approved, the company will look for an ad agency to promote its service, president Ted Boyle told Adnews this week. PowerTel plans to serve all major eastern Ontario communities between Lindsay and Cornwall, as well as communities on both sides of the Ottawa River between Pembroke and Hawkesbury. The arrival of an alternative TV service is "akin to the arrival of cellular phones," Boyle says. "(TV service) is going to be much more of a marketing centred business than the typical cable industry today." Boyle says PowerTel plans to spent more than $1 million on advertising each year, but less than $10 million. The company hopes to receive approval for the service by the end of the year and launch the service nine months later. PowerTel has already filed an application with the CRTC to introduce MMDS service in southern Ontario. The company is hoping to receive approval by September.