Welcome to the self-proclaimed Rural Ottawa High-Speed Internet Blog. High-speed Internet access is virtually ubiquitous in the urban and suburban areas of Ottawa, but when I started this blog in 2005, only about 60% of the rural areas of Ottawa have coverage. However, even for rural citizens, high-speed Internet access is becoming as necessary as telephone service. Happily, high-speed coverage for rural Ottawa has increased significantly, and not only is coverage reportedly above 90%, many rural residents and businesses now have more than one choice of high-speed ISP.

This purpose of this weblog is to track news and events related to high-speed (broadband) Internet access in the rural areas of Ottawa and, to a lesser extent, in nearby townships.

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Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Arryba Has Secured a Tower Site on First Line

Arryba Communications has secured a tower site on First Line Road. An agreement has been signed and some installation work has been started. The installation should be completed around August 8. I believe that Arryba will be using one of the silos at Acredale Farm, located on the east side of First Line just south of Century.


Furthermore, Arryba has informed me that Telecom Ottawa is scheduled to install fibre to Arryba's main (superPOP) tower at Greely Sand and Gravel on August 12.


Presumably, once both of these installations are completed, Arryba will be offering service in the First Line and Century Road area. Arryba uses non-line-of-site (non-LOS) technology for its wireless network, with a range of several kilometres through vegetation. Most if not all of the people that I know to be interested in high-speed live within Arryba's non-LOS range from their Acredale equipment. Beyond that range, Arryba can provide LOS access.


Arryba will tentatively start customer installations on August 15. Interested parties are advised to sign-up for service on Arryba's website. Arryba has a variety of service levels and payment options, at very competitive prices (IMHO).


Please note that Arryba's services are based on symmetrical speeds, that is, the upload and download speeds are approximately the same. Arryba lists the service as a total of the two speeds. For example, Arryba's 1.0Mbps Symmetrical – 2.0Mb service is 1.0Mbps upload and 1.0Mbps downlaod, for a total of 2Mbps. It is my understanding that this naming convention is fairly standard across other high-speed ISPs as well; I believe that Bell's 3Mbps service is approximately 2.2Mbps download and 0.8Mbps upload.


Please refer to the comments for more info on contract and payment options, or see Arryba's website.


Update, August 22, 2005:
Arryba's installations have met with some delays, but installation is progressing. According to a report that I just received, installation crews will be working at both the First Line Road site and the Greeley Sand & Gravel site again today. Arryba expects to have the installations completed this week.

posted by Chris Spencer at 11:06 am 1 comments

1 Comments:

Blogger Chris Spencer said...

Arryba's pricing is based on a 3-year contract. If a subcriber commits to 3 years of service, the payment options are monthly, annually, or tri-annually. In other words, you can pay on a month-by-month basis, pay a year in adavnce, or pay for the entire 3 year commitment in advance. The farther in advance that you pay, the bigger the discounts. See Arryba's website for details.

If you do not commit to a 3 year contract, then the on-site equipment must be purchased, at a one-time cost of $995 plus taxes, or a monthly cost of $30 each month for 3 years.

If you have any questions, please contact Arryba directly:

Phone: (613) 821-9990
Email: Sales@arryba.com

August 04, 2005 10:32 am  

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