A plan to wire 420 Alberta communities in a high-speed broadband network is the dawn of an explosive period of growth that is already paying dividends, say technology leaders.
Dubbed the Alberta Supernet, Alberta Minister of Innovation and Science Lorne Taylor announced the $300-million project last week and made a promise the fibre-optic link would be completed within three years. Currently, about 30 communities have some high-speed access.
“We will be the only jurisdiction in North America that is doing this,” said Taylor. “Massachusetts is trying to do this on a state basis using copper, which is old.”
A consortium of companies led by Bell Intrigna and Calgary-based Axia NetMedia, will connect any community which has either a hospital, library, school or government office to the high-speed network at a reasonable and equal cost.
Other key players in the consortium include Cisco Systems, Microsoft Corporation, Nortel Networks, 360 Networks and Alberta companies Wi-Lan, Total Telcom and Netricom.
Earl Hickok president and chief executive officer of Tecskor, a Calgary software provider that helps manage projects and enterprise initiatives worldwide, said Alberta has plugged itself into the big time.
“When I asked Cisco and Microsoft why they wanted to be involved in Alberta, they said this will be the only place in the world that is going into this level of integration and this level of complexity for high-speed Internet,” he said.
“Microsoft is now approaching us to do a joint project. I don’t think we would have showed up on the sphere in years gone by.”
Axia CEO Art Price said his 600-employee company would expand in order to build the Alberta network. Just as important, he sees a tremendous opportunity to repeat the project in other venues.
Under the agreement, the province will spend $193 million on providing initial infrastructure and then become a customer like any other Albertan, said Taylor.
Toronto-based Bell, he said, has made a large investment as well. Bell expects the deal will double its workforce of 675 employees in Western Canada.
Axia, Cisco and Microsoft will be responsible for the design, construction, management and operation of the network to about 370 communities which fall outside the so-called Bell core network of metropolitan areas that include Calgary, Edmonton and some surrounding communities.
Bell chairman and CEO Jean Monty, called the deal a significant step to solidifying its position as a national player. The Bell Intrigna consortium’s bid beat out other competitors, including Western Canadian rival Telus Corp. which called the outcome surprising and disappointing.
The consortium is expected to begin work within four months. It will build the 8,400-kilometre network infrastructure by leasing existing fibre lines — ones in use and currently not activated — and by installing new fibre-optic cable lines. The system will be open, meaning any company can buy into the network to help provide Internet or telecommunications services to Alberta communities.
Business leaders say the spin-offs are numerous:
* Firms operating in small towns won’t have to move to large centres to be competitive;
* The presence of giants such as Cisco and Microsoft put Alberta companies in a position to catch the next wave of high-tech expansion;
* A broadband connection to all learning and health facilities will serve more than 800,000 students and professionals;
* Companies will have an easier time luring back workers from the U.S.
The key to broadband, said Axia’s Price, is that it allows interactive two-way communication. Sounds and visuals, “just about anything” can be digitized and therefore sent through the network.
A violin student can play a duet with a professional from the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra 500 kilometres away, he explained. Or a rural patient could send his diagnostics to a medical expert in another city and have them read in real time.
At last week’s news conference an MLA quipped that the next Bill Gates could now come from Manyberries, Alta., Taylor’s riding in the southeast corner of the province.
Is that likely?
“It’s a possibility,” said Mark Wylie, principal of the tiny Manyberries School which has 50 students in Grades 1 to 9.
“Alberta is not making any mistakes by getting on the wagon first,” said Wylie, whose students are rooted in an economy based in oil and gas, and farming.
Limited by funding — and an Internet dial-up system in his school that is “inconsistent” — Wylie said high-speed access will allow classes to enjoy virtual learning, tapping into the best resources anywhere.
Taylor said that most rural ridings operate on telephone modems. Currently, schools pay approximately $2,000 a month. That will be reduced to about $600 a month while the new Internet service offers seven or eight times the power.
Taylor added that Alberta Education this month will make an announcement on the implications of Supernet.
It is expected that 95 per cent of the network will be fibre and five per cent wireless.
Calgary-based Wi-Lan has been delivering broadband wireless access to schools and libraries for a few years, says David Bocking, vice-president of Canadian sales.
“What is happening with being part of the consortium with Bell Intrigna, is really moving wireless broadband access to a more mature stage. Or it’s showing the importance of wireless in these hybrid networks.”
Wi-Lan has 157 employees in Calgary, compared to 53 a year ago. It is too early to see if the project will lead to more hirings, said Bocking, adding that part of the proposal with government was the hiring of community partners when possible.
