Mergers
Until this time, CNCP had operated financially as two separate entities (CN and CP). The two companies merged their telecommunications divisions in January 1981.[17] After the CRTC approved, J. G. Sutherland was named president and CEO of the company.[18]
Intelpost was a national and international fax service begun in early 1981 and managed by CNCP and Canada Post. A person wanting to send a document requiring more than simple text – charts, drawings, and other types of graphics – could send it from a few main post office locations, originally limited to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton. Documents within Canada were sent via the microwave network. Those sent to the US or Europe were transmitted via satellite.[19]
During the Canada Post strike of 1981,[20] telecommunications carriers noted an increase in long-distance voice, data and fax usage. These services somewhat circumvented the need for the strike to resolve.[21] CNCP reported sales increases of 25% for telegrams and 67% for Telex equipment during the month of July, which was usually a slack month for the hardware.[22]
A 40% stake of CNCP was acquired by Rogers Communications in 1984 and CP acquired CN's stake. The company logo was updated in April 1984, removing the word Telecommunications.[23]
Undaunted by the CRTC's unwillingness to allow competition in voice communications in Canada, the company applied to the CRTC for "tariff revisions" relating to providing electronic mail and "office communication services".[24] The company had applied to the CRTC to have Canadian telecommunications regulations changed so that businesses and consumers would be able to choose between their regular telephone company and CNCP Telecommunications. The CRTC released their decision in August 1985, denying the company the go-ahead to provide mass-market communications to Canadians.[25]
CNCP announced in April 1986 that it had connected Toronto and Montreal with 12 strands of fibre optic cable and that implementation of this technology would lead to a 30–40% reduction in long-distance telephone costs to consumers. The Hudson's Bay Company was the first to use the network to transmit a high volume of data.[26]
In the summer of 1987, CNCP had to request that the CRTC direct Bell Canada to provide interconnections between the company and Bell Canada's connections to the United States to comply with CRTC's Telecom Decision 1979-11. A company in Toronto had requested 10 foreign exchange lines to a Sprint telecom switch in Buffalo, New York.[27] In addition to this request, CNCP wanted exemption from over-regulation having to do with its services.[28][29] At the same time, CNCP completed Dialcom, a digital microwave link which extended from Toronto, Ontario, to Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta. Dialcom allowed for exchange of e-mail messages, regardless of hardware equipment.[30]
