ITU Approves New Mobile (Cellular) Designation

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Radiocommunication Assembly meeting in Geneva Switzerland on 18 January 2012 approved the specifications for next-generation mobile (cellular) technologies to be known as International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced). The official press release is at the ITU site

The ITU is a United Nation sponsored agency responsible for setting the international standards for mobile (cellular) communications. They determined that that "LTE-Advanced" and "WirelessMAN-Advanced" should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced.

We will have to wait and see how quickly the vendors jump on the bandwagon and start to refer to their systems as IMT-Advanced or 5G. It only took a matter of days after the last plenary session in 2010 that amended the definitions of 3G and 4G for the vendors to tout their network as 4G even though there was no change with the in-service technology.

I hope to post more about IMT-Advanced in the near future.

Hornepayne Now Has HSPA Service

Hornepayne is the latest North Algoma community to get 3G/4G HSPA cellular service.

We are still awaiting information as to when the planned HSPA service for Dubreuilville and Chapleau will be launched. Once these sites are converted, all the Algoma communities identified as locales for HSPA service will be launched and on-line.

As to highway sites, the Tbaytel website shows the ones along Hwy 101 being converted to HSPA in 2012 but whether or not this is actually in the annual network work plan has not been confirmed.

Whether or not Tbaytel will close the gaps along Hwy 17 (Lake Superior Provincial Park area) and Hwy 101 (The Shoals Provincial Park area) without any type of cellular coverage is unknown.

Vianet Services in North Sault

According to their website, Vianet is now offering fixed wireless broadband (high speed) Internet in the Algoma District using Tbaytel infrastructure. Full details are available on the Vianet Residential Wireless page and the associated links.

Note: The following information is provided for information purposes. All costs associated with the services discussed are paid out of my own pocket and I am not reimbursed in any manner.

I recently signed up for Vianet’s vTone service with a Sault Ste. Marie local number. I took the Vianet Linksys Analog Telephone Adapter (ATA) and my kitchen telephone with me on a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC. I was able to connect the ATA to Internet in my room using a Cat 5 Ethernet cable. Once connected, I had full phone service with a local Sault Ste. Marie phone number. My contacts were able to call my local vTone number in SSM and the phone would ring in Myrtle Beach, all without long distance charges. Likewise I was able to made local calls in the Sault Ste. Marie dialling area, again without toll charges. I also signed up for one of the Vianet long distance plans in case I wanted to use the feature. Sault Ste. Marie is the point of origin for the long distance cost calculations .

This technology may be useful to Snowbirds going south for the winter and wishing to keep in touch with the folks at home.

Xplornet Satellite Service Changes

Xplornet has revised its website and now includes information about the new 4G ViaSat1 satellite service plans.

The price matrix is competitive with HSPA data hub and Canopy fixed wireless offerings but is more costly than DSL or cable rates. Monthly bandwidth allowance is reasonable at the various price points and additional bandwidth costs vary from $3.50 to $2.00 per GB depending on the package. While there is no specific “fine print” information referenced, it appears the daily caps - one of the most annoying features of existing Xplornet satellite service - will no longer be applicable. Details of the various plan options can be found via this link.

Unfortunately, to take advantage of the service, you will have to move to Southern Ontario as the Algoma District is not included in the coverage area as shown on this map (Link no longer exists on Xplornet website.) It appears as if the greater part of Northern Ontario will not be covered by the new Xplornet coverage. Regrettably, the site does not contain any information as to whether or not any new or existing customers in the Algoma District will see any changes in their price or connectivity restrictions.

The site also has a video featuring the CEO of Xplornet, Mr. John Maduri. I’ll not comment on the presentation except to say it left me very confused and far less optimistic than Mr. Maduri.

A second High Throughput Satellite (HTS), codenamed Jupiter, will be launched by Hughes next year. One can only hope that it will provide coverage to the area not covered by ViaSat1. It is unclear if Xplornet will have access to this HTS.

ViaSat1 Undergoes Successful Test

This is follow-up on my blog of 31 Oct 11 about the launch of the ViaSat 1 satellite.

ViaSat Inc announced on 07 Dec 11 the completion of a successful test of the ViaSat1 bird.

As stated in their press release, the company “…has transmitted the first data over the ViaSat-1 high-capacity satellite and the WildBlue high-speed data network. The initial transmissions and receptions were completed the evening of December 2 from a SurfBeam® 2 terminal at ViaSat's Carlsbad campus, through the ViaSat-1 satellite and a gateway located in Milford, Utah. The test included email, web surfing, and video streaming, proving the power of the integrated network. The satellite, designed and owned by ViaSat, is the highest capacity satellite in the world.”

The release goes on to state “The ViaSat-1 high-capacity Ka-band spot beam satellite includes coverage over North America and Hawaii, enabling a variety of new, high-speed broadband services for WildBlue in the U.S., Xplornet in Canada, and JetBlue Airways on its domestic U.S. fleet.”

It appears that first customer use may occur before the end of 2011 but none of the companies involved have released specific details.

The Canadian carrier Xplornet has been uncharacteristically silent on how it intends to use the new capability except to laud the “4G” capability the new hardware opens up.

Searchmont HSPA Upgrade Reported - Now Confirmed

This report is now confirmed by Tbaytel staff in Thunder Bay and the local SSM Tbaytel agent - The Brick. 

An Anonymous respondent submitted the following report on Tuesday, 29 Nov 11 under  the CRTC Broadband Report Issued blog.

Searchmont's HSPA upgrade is coming online today. The wireless canopy speed tests show an increase rates at my home today after the majority of the infrastructure was put in place yesterday.

I have not been able to receive independent confirmation but I do know that Tbaytel had a scheduled a work outage for an equipment upgrade on the Bellevue/Searchmont link on Monday, 28 Nov 11. Therefore, I believe the report to be accurate.

CRTC Broadband Report Issued

The CRTC issued its Broadband Report dated November 2011 The statistics cited are for the year 2010.

I think some of the cited statistics are going to make you cry or laugh or sit back in awe!