HALIFAX — Bell today announced it’s expanding its Wireless Home Internet (WHI) service to rural Atlantic Canada, planning to reach 70,000 households by the end of 2020 and a total of 200,000 locations over the next two years.
Of the total number of rural residences in Atlantic Canada expected to have access to Bell’s WHI service, about 68,000 will be in New Brunswick, 86,000 in Nova Scotia, 27,000 in Prince Edward Island and 15,000 in Newfoundland and Labrador, says Bell’s press release. It is part of the company’s previously announced wireless home internet push.
Bell also noted WHI has been recently enhanced to deliver 50/10 access speeds (50 megabits per second download/10 Mbps upload), which will be available to about 70% of connected homes at launch, says the release. WHI customers receive the advanced Bell Home Hub modem to provide Wi-Fi throughout the home.
Designed to extend broadband Internet access to unserved or underserved communities, WHI is 5G-capable technology delivered over Bell’s LTE wireless network. WHI operates on a dedicated fixed wireless LTE channel separate from the mobile LTE channel, ensuring consistent capacity and speed for both fixed and mobile customers, says the release.
“Wireless Home Internet leverages Bell’s fibre and wireless networks to efficiently deliver broadband Internet access to smaller towns, rural communities and other hard-to-reach locations,” said Stephen Howe, Bell’s chief technology officer, in the release. “Enhanced 50/10 speeds will be available to the majority of locations as will upgrades to 5G service in future once necessary wireless spectrum is made available by the federal government in 2021.”
Bell’s WHI service is currently available to more than 400,000 households in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, and is expected to reach one million homes in smaller towns and rural communities across Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, says the release.
For more information, including a list of Atlantic Canada communities getting access to Bell’s Wireless Home Internet service, please click here.
Photo of a wireless tower with WFI courtesy of Bell Canada.
