TORONTO – Rogers and Bell can now compete nationally for high speed Internet users, regardless of where the two companies have wired footprints.
A trio of releases today announced that 1) the long-dormant Inukshuk spectrum is now ready to be used and; 2) that both Bell and Rogers – the co-owners of Inukshuk, are retailing high speed wireless service beginning today.
Rogers is called, a little clunkily: Portable Internet from Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet and is available in 20 cities across Canada, giving customers access to Internet speeds up to 1.5 mbps download, 256 kbps upload from anywhere in the coverage footprint.
It’s a "plug and play" product, meaning it must be self-installed. It includes five e-mail accounts as well as the same suite of services currently offered to Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet customers, such as parental controls, security features, spam control, online music and many others.
"Portable Internet from Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed Internet gives customers the flexibility and convenience to move from one location to another by simply taking their modem with them," said Terry Canning, vice-president and general manager of Internet service, Rogers.
The Inukshuk network is a leading edge wireless broadband network built by Rogers and Bell Canada over the past 12 months, and is one of the largest IP wireless broadband networks of its kind in the world. It’s also a non-line-of-sight wireless technology and uses existing Bell and Rogers cell towers.
Similar builds are occurring Stateside and on other countries so users in Canada will soon be able to take their notebooks or other devices with them and have Internet access anywhere via licensed, secure spectrum. Although travelers can get on the web in just about any metropolitan area now without much trouble, once you find a Wi-Fi bubble, such networks – broadcast using unlicensed spectrum – can have security issues.
A next generation IP wireless network based on pre-WiMax standards allows subscribers to access the Internet and other applications such as voice over internet protocol (VOIP), video streaming and a variety of data applications. The total investment of the partnership between Bell and Rogers is expected to reach $200 million by 2008 covering over 100 urban and rural areas.
The 20 markets (5 million households, or 40% of the population) it’s available in now are: Greater Vancouver Area, Victoria, Red Deer, Calgary, Edmonton, Whitehorse, Greater Toronto Area, Barrie, London, Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, Ottawa, Gatineau-Hull, Quebec City, Greater Montreal Area, Charlottetown, Halifax, Fredericton, and St. John’s.
The cost from Rogers is $49.95 a month plus the $100 modem – with a year-long contract.
Bell has named its new service Sympatico High Speed Unplugged and offers two pricing options: a 512 Kbps for $45 per month; and 3 Mbps for $60 per month. The modem is the same at $100, but Bell requires a two-month contract.
"We will continue to build on our initial offer, developing and improving Sympatico High Speed Unplugged over the coming months, quickly expanding to include a full suite of value-added services" said Charlotte Burke, senior vice-president, consumer Internet services.
