Local Internet service provider gets apology

Posted By VALERIE MACDONALD

Posted 2 months ago

Not once, but twice, a spokesperson for the company contracted to bring high-speed broadband service to Northumberland County, apologized to longtime, local Internet service provider Eagle.ca. and pledged an agreement was in the works for open access to their new, publicly funded infrastructure.

Tom Copeland, owner of Northumbria/ Eagle.ca, heard the apologies while sitting in the county council gallery at council's November 18 meeting; he'd complained repeatedly to councillors that Barrett Xplore Inc. was not living up to the mandate of open access to third-party service providers like his Cobourg-based firm.

Unlike some other Internet service providers, Copeland won't put his company equipment on the new publicly funded towers but buy the service from Barrett Xplore Inc. and resell it much like the traditional high-speed service it currently offers in urban areas, Copeland said in an interview after Bob Davie's public presentation and apologies. Copeland expects to do that at a competitive price and provide value-added service to his customers.

The agreement and prices must be "fair and equitable," Copeland stressed.

"We apologize for some of that communication (breakdown), Davie, Barrett Xplore Inc. vice-president, told county council. "It didn't happen in the proper fashion early on.

"We're guilty as charged."

Now, however, Barrett Xplore Inc. is working directly with local Internet service provider Eagle.ca on an open access program with further meetings planned, Davie said.

One such meeting that immediately followed the county council session was productive, Copeland said.

About a year ago, councillors approved Barrett Xplore Inc.'s bid to build a network of towers to provide Internet access to most rural households and improve internet connectivity and speed throughout Northumberland. The project received about $200,000 in count funding and just under $1 million in provincial funding through the Rural Connections Broadband program.

The contract and program was not to cut out existing local Internet service providers.

County Warden Linda Thompson told Northumberland Today she understood agreements like the one coming between Barrett Xplore and Copeland's company had already been reached with other local Internet service providers.

Seven of the 10 new tower sites under the program are now "live"and "broadcasting in interference-free licensed spectrum," Davie told council. More than 100 new customers have been activated and another 400 want service, he said.

The renowned Northumberland hills are a physical impediment to Internet service, so tower and transmission sites have been chosen to try and overcome this signal barrier. A map provided by Barrett Xplore Inc. showed locations ranging from Codrington and Seymour in the east to Oak Heights and Roseneath in the north to Eddystone and Elizabethville in the west. Davie said towers still to be activated include those in Hamilton at the end of November, Cramahe at the end of December and North Port Hope next spring.

"In a limited number of areas of the county where fixed wireless signals cannot be received, Xplornet satellite service is already available," stated a company press release, along with an offer of free residential service installation until year's end, if clients sign a three-year contract.

The cost of service ranges from a monthly fee of about $30 to $60 for residences and about $60 to 100 for businesses, based on speed and capacity required.

Contracts range from one to three years with both one-time and basic installation fees.

In addition to providing service to up to 7,000 new households who may sign on, the company will invest $5.5 million over the next five years in the system. Local launches were planned for each community starting this week in Port Hope, Davie said.

In a media release, Northumberland Economic Development and Tourism Director Dan Borowec advised residents to visit the county website at www.northumberlandcounty.ca for details on the launches, where general Internet information and service info are to be provided.

"The opportunity to enhance accessibility and affordable high-speed Internet service throughout the county adds a critical piece of infrastructure to health care, education, community services and economic development and tourism across the county," county administrator Bill Pyatt stated in the release.