Techopia Live: How one local internet provider has weathered the storm

Ottawa Business Journal

When you think of internet service provider options for Ottawa, you’ll inevitably think of the big national companies that dominate this space, notably Bell and Rogers. What many people fail to realize is that local providers still exist. Way back in the 1990s, in the early days of the Internet, these local providers were essential. Most early adopters turned to these local ISPs to access the web and email. All these years later, one local ISP is still thriving. Storm Internet Services was launched in 1996 to serve Ottawa and Eastern Ontario. Today, Storm has approximately 9,000 residential and 1,000 commercial customers, offering DSL, fibre, wireless, cable connectivity, and IPTV. Storm has offices in Ottawa, Perth, and Chesterville, with local support and call centre staff. In this episode of Techopia Live, Ottawa Business Journal publisher Michael Curran speaks with Storm chairman and CEO Birket Foster about how this longstanding local ISP continues to thrive and how upcoming CRTC decisions could open up new opportunities.