WIKWEMIKONG, ON – Wikwemikong First Nation telco FirstTel Communications Corporation has launched a triple-play of high-speed internet, TV and home phone to members of the Reserve, the company said Wednesday.
FirstTel, with the assistance of WireIE (Canada) Inc. has built a unique wireless solution to provide the Wikwemikong Reserve with a high-speed internet service which major telco and cable services were unable to provide, reads the news release. FirstTel also launched a full range of TV channels packaged and provided by VMedia Inc.
The enhanced fibre solution using wireless broadband, the first of its kind developed by a First Nations community to serve its residents, enabled Wikwemikong to provide quality broadband internet services to indigenous communities across Ontario. The partnership with WireIE not only improved broadband coverage to over two hundred households, but also led to the deployment of a new broadband fibre gateway to the community, providing three times the existing bandwidth at less cost, ensuring sufficient capacity to handle the requirements of all community stakeholders, and creating incremental revenue streams through colocation fees to existing and new carriers, continues the release.
“Internet access is now an essential part of everyday life,” said Innovation, Science and Economic Development minister Navdeep Bains, in the release. “Canadians go online for education, health services, entertainment and shopping. Faster Internet connections allow Canadians to innovate. It allows them to get the skills and training they need to qualify for well-paying jobs. The launch of a high-speed Internet service by FirstTel will give the community of Wikwemikong the tools they need to fully participate in a digital world.”
Incorporated in 2003 and located on Manitoulin Island, FirstTel is owned by Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory and provides communications solutions for residential and commercials clients across Ontario.
In photo, from left: WireIE’s Brian Walters, Chief Duke Peltier, and VMedia’s Anne Marie Sandford and George Burger
