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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Postings & Moderation
I've opened up this blog to allow anyone to post to it. However, I continue to moderate and will remove any inappropriate content, e.g. anything not related to high-speed internet access in the rural Ottawa, the Ottawa Valley, Eastern Ontario, and the Outaouais.
This doesn't really have much to do with rural Ottawa high-speed Internet access, but some readers may find it useful.
If you're looking to test the upload and download speeds of your Internet connection (of any type), check out
Speedtest.net. Unlike other download speed test sites, Speedtest.net lets you choose a server that is physically close (or not) to where your are located. It also tests upload speeds, which is something other test sites don't often do or do only as a separate test.
XplorNet Wireless High-Speed available in Rural Ottawa?
I was checking out the
XplorNet website today and discovered that they now provide fixed wireless high-speed Internet service at least in the Kars area. I clicked on their
For Your Home link, entered my postal code (K0A 2E0, which is the code for all of Kars) and was informed that in addition to several satellite services (most of which I already knew about), they are now providing several fixed wireless high-speed service options in the area, at prices comparable to DSL, cable, and other fixed wireless services.
They're currently offering four package with prices ranging from $29.99 - $59.99 per month for speeds from 300 Kbps to 5.0 Mbps. The Zoom package is $39.99 per month for speeds up to 1.5 Mbps and 2 email accounts. All packages offered free installation if a 3-year contract was signed.
I'm not sure how much of rural Ottawa is covered by XplorNet's fixed wireless high-speed services, but it may be worth checking out. If anyone finds out anything more on XplorNet's availability, please let me know.
According to a Globe and Mail
article, unprofitable
Look Communications is up for sale. Companies such as
BCE Inc.,
Rogers, and
Telus appear interested in purchasing the company.
Look does provide television and wireless Internet service in the Ottawa area, reportedly from a transmitter atop Camp Fortune.
Things have been somewhat quiet on the rural high-speed front lately... and/or I've been a little busier than usual. In any case, someone at the
City of Ottawa's
Rural Affairs Office noticed my earlier posting on the City's rural broadband report, and provided the following additional info (which I've taken my sweet time in posting below):
City Council have directed staff to move forward with a "public-private partnership" (P3) to ensure broadband access in 100% of rural Ottawa, as per the council minutes posted on the blog.
It is believed that the current 60% coverage in the rural areas is all that will occur if the market is left to its own devices, since most villages and other areas of concentrated population now have broadband - it is mostly areas that don't have significant concentrations of dwellings that are un-served or underserved.
The City has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) asking for submissions from private providers on plans to ensure 100% coverage as per above.
The City will provide financial incentives to assist with infrastructure costs to make the start up financially worthwhile. Respondents to the RFP will be scored on the amount of assistance they request (i.e. the lower the better), and various other subjective variables. The RFP will be technology neutral.
The Request for Proposal is currently on MERX (government tender site) at the following location. Note: to see the actual RFP document, it must be ordered from MERX for a fee.
The City hopes to have a partner selected, contract signed, and approval from Council to proceed in March. There will also be a marketing plan to ensure citizens are aware of the initiative and know how to take advantage of the service as well as consultations with rural stakeholders to ensure we are on the right track.
The private partner will operate the service going forward - the city's involvement will be to provide assistance with the start-up costs and to monitor and ensure the provider is fulfilling their obligations. There will be performance measurements in the agreement to ensure success.
The goal is to have affordable broadband service available in all rural parts of the city of Ottawa by Q4 2007, subject to negotiations with the partner.
For further information, citizens can contact the Rural Affairs Office at the City of Ottawa at RuralAffairs@ottawa.ca
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