The $295 million Alberta SuperNet is off the drawing boards and into the field.
The provincewide initiative kicked into high gear July 24, when the Government of Alberta signed contracts with the building consortium to start immediate construction of the fibre-optic superhighway to the Internet.
The leading-edge project will see high-speed Internet and broadband capabilities put within reach of 90 per cent of Albertans in 422 locations.
Every community with a school, library, hospital or provincial government office will be connected to the network within three years.
Consortium partners Bell Intrignia and Bell Nexia will invest a total of $102 million in the core portion of the network, which will reach the 27 largest communities involved in the initiative. The Alberta government will contribute the remaining $193 million.
As the contractor responsible for the building of Supernet, Intrignia will subcontract to Axia IP Services Ltd., another consortium partner along with Microsoft Canada and Cisco Systems Canada, the building of the extended area of 395 smaller communities. When finished in 2004, the fibre/wireless network will stretch 6,000 kilometres.
Axia IP’s 10-year renewable contract with the provincial government is expected to bring in $210-$240 million over the three years, giving its Calgary-based parent Axia NetMedia a major financial boost. Axia is projecting further annual revenues of $40 million from customer services as customers are connected over the next three years.
Intrignia, also headquartered in Calgary, expects the further telecommunications services it is contracted to deliver to SuperNet’s core network locations will generate about $160 million in revenue. This is in addition to the sale of telecommunications services valued at $169 million over 10 years to the Alberta government, part of the SuperNet agreement first announced last November.
SuperNet will not connect individual residences or businesses. Rather, all internet service providers will have access to the extended areas, ensuring connectivity at competitive rates. The wholesale rates to ISPs in the smaller communities will be based on those charged to urban Alberta ISPs.
“I think people are beginning to see that this is the 21st-century equivalent of roads, and water and telephone networks and electricity and so on,” said Axia president Murray Wallace. “It is just one of those things you have to have to be competitive.”
The Alberta project is being watched by the rest of the world.
“As a consequence of the Alberta SuperNet, Axia has already been approached by a number of other governments to advise them on how to achieve the same benefits for both their urban and rural populations,” said Art Price, Axia’s chairman and CEO.
The company did not identify specific jurisdictions.
Web Watch:
www.albertasupernet.ca
www.axia.com
