Pat here is that news release I mentioned last week, what does this mean for Newbridge? (also I expect this will give me increased Internet speed here in the Valley, Pembroke??)
Later
john
NEWS RELEASE
Breakthrough in Telecommunications Pricing and Access for Ontario
Communities
The Kingston Area Network (KANnet) and the Grey/Bruce/Georgian Triangle
Community Network announced today that they had succeeded in establishing
new low telecommunications pricing and better telecommunications access in
Ontario.
"This announcement will change the communication landscape of the province,"
says David Hughes, Director of Social Services for Grey County and Community
Lead for the Grey/Bruce/Georgian Triangle Community Network. Communities and
community consortia stretching from Kingston to Barry's Bay to Owen Sound
will benefit from the announcement.
The Grey/Bruce/Georgian Triangle and KANnet consortia had collaborated to
issue a joint Request for Proposal to telecommunications service providers
for infrastructure (commonly called Layer 2) and for value added services
such as routing and virtual private networking (commonly called Layer 3).
Rodin Communications, a private company headquartered in Cambridge, Ont.,
has been identified as the low-price vendor for the layer two
infrastructure. Rodin will provide pricing reductions of up to 80% from
their previously prices and access to all parts of the province, urban and
rural. Organizations in both the public and private sector can share in the
price savings.
One unexpected result of the request for proposal process was the diversity
of layer 3 offerings from the different vendors. "Some consortia members
need more than just bandwidth," said Frank Huntley, KANnet Project Manager.
"We expect to begin deploying a wide range of applications in the near
future, so we decided it would be better to continue working with many
vendors on value-added (layer 3) solutions than to restrict ourselves by
picking just one. For example, our local school boards have selected Bell
Canada Broadband Network Services for deployment this fall, which will
provide equitable service to all of their rural and previously
difficult-to-serve schools. We expect to announce other value-added
offerings with multiple vendors."
Loreto Saccucci, president of Rodin, says the offer will allow the ordinary
person to be on a level playing field with the major players and allow
people in rural areas access to perks formally available to only those in
major centres.
To meet the RFP requirements, Rodin will offer the same advantageous pricing
structure to all communities in Ontario. "To qualify for this new pricing,
telecommunications users have to form or join a local consortium that covers
a minimum of approximately 100 sites" says Paul Tustanoff of Rodin. The
consortium can then negotiate a service agreement with Rodin. Many
communities across Ontario have already formed such consortia.
Rodin, a five-year-old company, supplies its customers using a fibre optic
"backbone" that currently stretches along the Highway 401 corridor. A key
component of Rodin's strategy is to support community-based partnerships,
both by working with community consortia and by working with local cable and
electrical operators and telephone companies. It has also partnered with
AT&T Canada Metronet division and Newbridge Networks to provide the main
switched fabric.
"We are delighted that our strategy of cooperating with other regions has
paid off, not only for us, but for other communities in Ontario," said
Hughes. "It is the first time that telecommunications users in the two
participating regions have come together as consortia to leverage their
collective purchasing power. It is the first time that two community
networks in different parts of the province have collaborated on negotiating
with telecommunications service providers. And it is the first time that two
Ontario regions have negotiated a service agreement at a price that is
available to all other communities in the province."
The Kingston Area Network (KANnet) covers Frontenac County and the County of
Lennox and Addington. The Grey-Bruce and Georgian Triangle Network serves
Grey and Bruce Counties, the city of Owen Sound and the Georgian Triangle
area of Collingwood, the Town of the Blue Mountains, and other Eastern
Georgian Bay Communities (further information on each of the consortia is
available on their websites).
The process leading to today's announcement began many months ago, when
hospitals, schools, municipal governments and other significant users of
telecommunications in both regions formed telecommunications consortia. Each
consortium was created to improve telecommunications access, services and
applications. One way of doing so is by giving the communities greater
purchasing power and influence with suppliers. The two consortia agreed to
collaborate and issued a joint call for tenders in March 1999.
Some 32 consortia have joined together in the Regional Networks of Ontario
(RNO), an umbrella group that has been called a "consortium of consortia,"
dedicated to stimulating collaboration among communities in network
applications planning. The recently formed RNO helped them to draft the
Request for Proposal. Information about participating communities is
available on the RNO website.
The RNO also hopes to get both the provincial and federal governments to
join its emerging buyers' consortium. "By maximizing our purchasing power,
we can influence price and access for both the private and public sectors,"
said RNO Chair, Barrie Crampton. "This announcement demonstrates the results
that can be achieved when organizations and communities co-operate for a
common purpose. By doing so, these communities are turning Ontario into a
smart province."
For further information
Name: Steve Kelly
Title/Affiliation President, Kingston Economic Development Corporation
Chair, KANnet
Telephone 613-544-2725, ext 226
Name: David Hughes, Director Social Services, Grey County
Title/Affiliation Community Lead, Grey/Bruce/Georgian Triangle Community
Network
Director, Southwest Region, Regional Networks for Ontario
Telephone 519-376-9293
Name: Frank Huntley
Title/Affiliation: Project Manager, KANnet
President, The Software Factory
Telephone 613-545-1308
Email fhuntley@king.igs.net
Name: Russell Foy
Title/Affiliation Administrative Officer, Regional Networks for Ontario
Telephone 416-828-0-RNO
Email rfoy@rno.on.ca
Name: Paul Tustanoff
Title/Affiliation Data Manager Rodin
Telephone 519 678 7778
Email ptustan@wwdc.com
Also, for further information on the consortia and the RNO and how to
participate in the new pricing structure, please take a look at these
websites:
www.kannet.com
www.rno.on.ca
Additional details on the pricing information is available for RNO members
on the RNO Forum web site or contact Rodin directly at:
Paul Tustanoff, RNO Account Manager
RODIN Intelligent Enterprise Networks
phone 519-668-3591
fax 519-668-7819
email ptustan@wwdc.com
rodin.ca |
