Details of the video-on-demand plan from Digital Renaissance followed on the heels of news that the mother of Canadian telcos had acquired a minority stake in the new-media firm. Digital Renaissance has also formed a partnership with Atlantis Communications and Life Network to develop content for the Internet in conjunction with the production company and specialty service.

Details on the Bell Canada deal in terms of the size of the stake bought or the purchase price have not been released.

Mark Tellier, director of business development for Bell Emergis, the division of Bell set up to pursue networked and interactive multimedia opportunities, says the deal is more a strategic move than a financial maneuver.

‘Digital Renaissance has a very unique set of media integration skills that are not a part of our core business,’ says Tellier. ‘But there are a lot of synergies between the companies as far as what we’re doing in our broadband deployment services, specifically adsl, and having content for those services.’

Digital Renaissance was involved in assisting Bell deliver content for the telco’s broadband trials in London, Ont. and Repentigny, Que.

Tellier says there are a number of other content initiatives in the works between the two companies. Bell will leverage some of the existing technology developed by Digital Renaissance, including its tag media-linking system and other in-house expertise to develop business-to-business, business-to-consumer and e-commerce services.

Tellier says Bell Emergis will also be looking to other media companies to further its network and new-media efforts. ‘That’s the key to the business model behind Emergis,’ says Tellier. ‘We will be looking for partners to help us move out of the world of traditional telephony and into the world of networked multimedia.