Vancouver: More housekeeping at WIC Western International Communications has led to the sale of its wireless technology division WIC Connexus to MaxLink, a competitor based in Toronto.

The sale price is $48.3 million and the deal includes WIC Spectrum, which has been licensed by Industry Canada to distribute Local Multipoint Communications Systems in 47 Canadian cities as an alternative to cable distribution. MaxLink will have control of all the 28 MHz licences in Canada when the deal closes July 7.

The deal also includes Toronto-based lmcs provider Region Vision, which is owned by wic (49%) and Toronto-based Canadian Satellite Communications (51%). wic also owns 54.1% of Canadian Satellite Communications.

‘WIC Connexus and Regional Vision Inc. are both in the start-up phase of developing wireless technology and there is an obvious complementary fit for MaxLink, a strategic purchaser that is already in this industry,’ says wic president and ceo Peter Classon. ‘wic is currently focusing its priorities on our key business operations in television and radio broadcasting.’

As part of the sale of WIC Connexus, Newbridge Networks Corporation, which supplies wireless equipment, will drop its $1.2-billion lawsuit filed in February. The lawsuit alleged a breach of contract on the sale of equipment to WIC Connexus.

Classon adds that the sale of WIC Connexus did not require shareholder approval from Shaw Communications and CanWest Global, which are said to be continuing their negotiations about how to split up the wic assets. As a percentage of the overall value of wic, says Classon, the WIC Connexus sale is not material.