Dryden Municipal Telephone sale complete.

The debt-ridden City of Dryden has approved two offers to sell off the assets of its municipal telephone company.

City council unanimously approved offers from Tbaytel and Bell Aliant to purchase assets of Dryden Municipal Telephone System (DMTS).

Tbaytel takes over the Dryden Mobility customer assets, while Bell Aliant gets the landline and internet assets.

Bell Aliant offered to buy DMTS's landline and internet assets for $4.5 million.

Councillors granted final authorization for the transaction on Oct. 3 after two rounds of meetings and a public information sessions in late September.

The northwestern Ontario municipality of 7,600 is running a $43-million debt and is looking to cut its upcoming city budget by $3 million.

In a news release, the city said transition planning will begin right away with the plan for Tbaytel to take over full ownership by Oct. 22. Bell Aliant assumes control on Jan. 1.

The final sale will be subject to regulatory approvals from Industry Canada and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.