Canadian WiMAX network launched

April 04, 2006

Broadband choice has become more of a reality for some Canadians, as Inukshuk Wireless, a joint venture between Bell Canada and Rogers Communications has opened for business. According to Bell Canada, the first phase of the network covers over 5 million households and is available in selected areas from coast to coast.

Inukshuk is using pre-final-certification WiMAX technology to operate the network, making it the first large-scale WiMAX deployment in North America. Bell and Rogers used their preexisting infrastructure such as cellular towers to install the network, which operates in spectrum licensed to the companies already. Those spectrum licensing requirements stipulate that the service be made available in at least 25 unserved rural markets in the next year and 50 by March 2008.

WiMAX service will be available directly from both Bell Canada and Rogers Communications. Bell Canada is dubbing its WiMAX service "Sympatico High Speed Unplugged." Subscribers will pay CAN$45 per month for 512Kbps down, but a 3Mbps service will be available for an extra CAN$15 per month. Rogers Communications is calling it "Portable Internet," and is charging CAN$49.95 per month for 1.5Mbps service. Currently, Rogers offers 3Mbps landline service for CAN$43.95.

Although CAN$60 per month for 3Mbps service may not sound attractive to urban and suburban dwellers accustomed to higher speeds from traditional, wired service, it will likely prove very attractive in rural areas where the only current alternative is dial-up. For customers in many of the cities where the new WiMAX service is being offered, it will be a matter of choosing one Bell or Rogers service over another. Residents of western Canada who are primarily served by Shaw Communications and Telus Corp. will have more options for broadband as a result of the new wireless network.

WiMAX has been touted for many years now as both an alternative to cable and DSL, and as a solution to extend the reach of broadband to areas where it is not currently available. Earlier this year, the WiMAX Forum certified the first official WiMAX hardware, which operates in the 3.5GHz range. Unfortunately for US residents looking for options when it comes to broadband, that spectrum is already in use. That means for the time being, any WiMAX implementations in the US will either have to use proprietary hardware and run the risk of not being to interoperate with other networks, or wait until gear that operates in open spectrum (e.g., 5.8GHz) is certified (hopefully within the next twelve months). Until that time, we'll have to be content with seeing how our neighbors to the north do with their first WiMAX deployments.