The Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) as part of their $170 million dollar regional broadband project, has awarded a contract to Barrett Xplore Inc., through its Xplornet brand, to provide immediate and more affordable broadband access via satellite to residents across eastern Ontario.
For many people and businesses that today cannot access high-speed Internet this new arrangement makes access to the possibilities of broadband a reality. Starting on January 24, 2011 Barrett Xplore Inc. will begin offering residents an up to 1.5 Mbps package for $69.99 per month with an upfront one-time cost as low as $99 depending on contract length.
EOWC residents will benefit from new technologies as the Barrett network evolves. Starting in 2012, Barrett’s new 4G network will be available in the EOWC region. This network will use High-Throughput Satellites that will be capable of speeds up to 25 Mbps, and will offer even better value for end-consumers. Xplornet satellite customers who sign up for this new offer will have the option in 2012 to upgrade to the new 4G network.
At the same time, EOWC’s work on an ultra high-speed, fibre optic telecommunications grid for Eastern Ontario is continuing on schedule.
“Today’s announcement,” said J. Murray Jones, Chair of the EOWC Inc., “is a major step forward in the creation of our new ultra high-speed broadband network we call EORN (Eastern Ontario Regional Network). The availability of affordable high-speed internet services via satellite has been one of our key goals; particularly for those homes and businesses where the only other option was dial-up. We think the monthly savings of some $50.00 combined with the $199.00 reduction in upfront costs means good value for everyone.”
In the words of John Maduri, CEO of Barrett Xplore, “With this first EOWC broadband deployment, the wait for affordable broadband for many eastern Ontarians is over.”
“With the new lower prices and reduced up-front costs for new customers we think that there will be significant interest across the region. There is nothing more exciting to us than to work with local agencies that are committed to making affordable rural broadband a reality. The Wardens in Eastern Ontario deserve tremendous credit for what they have accomplished,” said Maduri today.
