TMX group

EDMONTON, May 3 /CNW/ - Significant progress has been achieved in
connecting all Extended Area Network communities to Alberta SuperNet.
With 421 of the 429 communities now ready to handle Internet service
provider traffic, Alberta Restructuring and Government Efficiency Minister
Luke Ouellette says, "Meeting this milestone is great news for rural
communities and their local businesses and residents." He adds, "I'm very
pleased that our new completion plan with Bell and Axia has proven itself so
quickly, and look forward to June 30, when the majority of the schools,
libraries, health and government facilities will be directly connected to the
Alberta SuperNet."
Construction of the remaining eight Extended Area Network communities is
ongoing with each specific construction need being addressed jointly with the
community in order to ensure that service is available as quickly as possible.
This milestone means local service providers can buy bandwidth on the
Alberta SuperNet and offer high-speed commercial services including Internet
access, to rural retail customers. Axia NetMedia Chairman and CEO Art Price
remarked, "Axia is pleased to offer these new services to local service
providers to enable them to deliver their high-speed services in rural
communities."
Building Alberta SuperNet is a significant achievement in Bell's 125-year
history of connecting communities across Canada," says Stephen Wetmore, Group
President, National Markets for Bell. "Albertans are now poised to benefit
from one of the most advanced IP networks in North America and Bell is looking
forward to working with the government and the private sector to make this
network a tremendous success."
The Alberta SuperNet is an unprecedented initiative to make affordable,
high-speed broadband connectivity available to all libraries, schools,
hospitals and provincial government offices throughout the province. The
network is comprised of a Base Area which links the province's 27 largest
communities and an Extended Area which includes 402 smaller communities across
the province.
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