CALGARY and SAN JOSE – Shaw Communications’ new Wi-Fi network will provide customers with a far better on-the-go-broadband option than cellular or the hotspot hodge-podge available at coffee shops far and wide, says its network equipment provider.
The big western broadband, cable and TV company announced today what many already knew, that it has chosen Cisco to deploy an “extensive and advanced Wi-Fi network” in Western Canada to provide broadband wireless access to its customers.
The broadband wireless network will be available to Shaw customers in various markets (beginning in the spring in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton) where Wi-Fi access points are deployed. The next-generation network will allow Shaw customers to connect devices like tablets, mobile phones and computers to thousands of Wi-Fi access points in Shaw’s communities.
The work has already begun, said Cisco’s Mark Kummer, vice-president, service provider operations for Cisco in Canada in an interview with Cartt.ca. “This is a more industrial strength, robust, clever access point technology… with a large number of access points,” he said.
Right now the companies are figuring out where they “need to get to quickly to have enough coverage to have a meaningful impact on their customers for a spring launch,” in those three western cities, added Kummer.
The network access points (hung on strand, perched in or on buildings – even covering the public transit system, among other places) will be numerous because without blanket coverage and a robust network, serving video to Shaw broadband customers wherever they are – or providing backhaul of that sort of traffic to traditional cellular carriers customers – demands a bulletproof network.
“Whether you’re at a shopping mall or a stadium or even potentially on the transit system, you’ll get a level of service which will not drop out… what you’d expect from a wired service,” added Kummer. “Increasingly there’s a lot of video content being downloaded, and that can include Netflix, etc. So when you start to get to that volume… you need a robust Wi-Fi network to effectively deliver that to a large number of users.”
And keep in mind, Shaw has also promised dramatically increased broadband speeds and download capabilities soon, to go along with this move.
American MSO Cablevision is the model Shaw and Cisco are working from. The New-York-based cable and broadband operation has already deployed a vast Wi-Fi net in the New York Metropolitan area which has reduced customer churn, says Kummer.
Another interesting aspect of Cablevision’s Wi-Fi rollout is the company has roaming agreements with Comcast and Time Warner, where the three companies customers will be able to Wi-Fi-roam on other cable Wi-Fi networks (likely for a fee, although Comcast and TW do not have a Wi-Fi network like Cablevision). According to Kummer, there’s no reason Shaw couldn’t do similar deals here – or even provide customers with cross-border Wi-Fi roaming options through deals with other American cable/broadband companies.
“Those are the sorts of things being talked about,” he said.
To power its new Wi-Fi services, Shaw will deploy Cisco Service Provider Wi-Fi, part of Cisco’s MOVE architecture. This solution allows service providers to offer scalable mobile Internet access that until now consumers could only get through a cellular network. Shaw will use Cisco’s CRS-3 Carrier Routing System, and Cisco ASR 5000 and 1000 Series routers to complete the build, along with the Aironet 1550 Outdoor Access Point.
Shaw will also deploy the Cisco Unified Computing System as a cloud computing infrastructure to deliver a highly secure virtual experience.
– Greg O’Brien
