As telcos, cablecos, producers and new media companies anxiously await the crtc’s April 28 decision on who gets to play on the I-way, the guys with the libraries are sitting pretty.

Take, for example, the recent courtship of Magic Lantern, one of Canada’s largest non-theatrical distributors of educational material that’s been in the business for 20 years.

Word is that two suitors – Rogers Communications and MediaLinx – have approached the company looking to invest.

Magic Lantern president Doug Connolly doesn’t want to confirm who’s been knocking at the door, but he does say he has been talking to five or six prospective partners in order to be ready to soar onto the I-way.

Fred Klinkhammer, MediaLinx ceo, says his company is interested in investing ‘in any Canadian company that has active and intelligent applications to run on Canada’s information highway.’

‘We think we can help them reach both a national and an international audience,’ he adds. The ultimate configuration for MediaLinx is a three-way, evenly split partnership, says Klinkhammer.

As for Magic Lantern, he says he has no current interest in the company, but he does see an ongoing relationship with it in the future. What kind of relationship, he won’t say.

Connolly says he’s investigating potential carriers very cautiously until the regulatory rules are settled. ‘That’s a battle we’re not going to fight. It’s between telcos, cablecos and the consumer,’ he says.

‘We need to marry a content provider like ourselves with the people who have the technology to get it to where it’s got to go. We don’t want to marry one side or another yet, and it may turn out we don’t end up with either of them.’

Connolly estimates the company’s plans to find a minority investor will be hammered out by June. In the meantime, he is working on a new media project launched this spring in New Brunswick with the participation of NB Tel.