For Immediate Release
Wanda Posehn reports.
BCT.TELUS and Wi-LAN connect in high-speed wireless Internet access trial
Wireless technology provides telcos a new way to extend high speed Internet service to home offices and business parks outside downtown core
Calgary, Alberta (March 16, 1999) - Recognizing the growing need for high-speed Internet and data communications services in areas outside the city core, BCT.TELUS Communications Inc. (TSE:BTS) and Wi-LAN Inc. of Calgary (ASE:WIN), have teamed up in a point-to-point wireless Internet trial. The first such trial in Canada, the connection uses Wi-LAN's patented multi-code direct sequence spread spectrum wireless technology to deliver fully-managed data communications service and high-speed Internet via radio waves. The trial provides high-speed connectivity from an antenna atop the 27-storey TELUS Tower in downtown Calgary to Wi-LAN's corporate offices in a business park more than three kilometres away. Currently at three times the speed of traditional ground-based T1 lines, wireless technology holds the potential to deliver a myriad of new services for BCT.TELUS as it searches for alternative ways of distributing its data communications services.
"The speed and reliability of Wi-LAN's wireless technology has been extremely impressive," says Steven Koles, Director of Internetworking Services at, BCT.TELUS Advanced Communications. "These factors are critical in our evaluation of wireless technologies, and how we can tap this rapidly-advancing technology to extend a broader array of business-grade services to our customers including Business Internet and LAN Interconnect."
The trial began when Wi-LAN approached BCT.TELUS in search of a faster Internet connection to the business park where the company is located northeast of the city. After initial discussions, BCT.TELUS Advanced Communications group accepted Wi-LAN's offer to partner in a trial using its proven wireless technology as a solution. Now in its fourth month, the trial provides Wi-LAN a constant connection to BCT.TELUS Advanced Communications, which runs the company's email, as well as its Web server. In fact, anyone surfing over Wi-LAN's website in the past four months has been doing so over this wireless link.
BCT.TELUS' interest is not unique. Vast improvements in wireless technology have meant a surge of interest by major telecommunication providers around the world. Wi-LAN's high-speed wireless Ethernet bridges are currently used in a national point-to-multipoint wireless Internet project in the U.K., and more recently for a similar project in Sweden by telecom giant Telia, which plans to use wireless technology to connect outlying business districts in Stockholm, before rolling out the services in various other Scandinavian countries.
"Canada in general, and BCT.TELUS in particular, have long been leaders in telecommunication development and we're extremely excited about the potential wireless technology holds for even broader coverage in the future," says Dr. Hatim Zaghloul, Wi-LAN president and CEO. "With the increase in home-based businesses, and companies locating outside the city core, it's vital that reliable, less expensive wireless technologies are developed to keep these companies on an even playing field."
How it works
Whenever a Wi-LAN employee sends an email file, it travels hardwired from their computer to the Wi-LAN server room to a Wi-LAN 45-24 Ethernet bridge. The email or information is transmitted through radio waves via this Ethernet bridge. The information travels more than three kilometres, over a major freeway and a part of downtown, to an antenna atop the TELUS Tower. Once the data is received it travels down to a identical Wi-LAN wireless Ethernet bridge in the tower. A BCT.TELUS Advanced Communications router then directs the Ethernet traffic through to one of BCT.TELUS' three high-speed Internet backbone connections. This process occurs at three times the speed of a typical T1 line.
About BCT.TELUS
The BCT.TELUS group of companies provides a full range of advanced communications services and products connecting Canadians with the world. BCT.TELUS trades on the Toronto and Montreal stock exchanges (stock symbol BTS). More information about TELUS is available on the World Wide Web at telus.com. More information about BC Tel is available on the World Wide Web at bctel.com.
About Wi-LAN
Wi-LAN delivers high-speed wireless data communications products that feature consistent high performance, easy installation and superior quality at significantly lower costs than traditional wire-based networking alternatives. Wi-LAN provides infrastructure and high-speed networking equipment for public and private wireless data networks. The company's Hopper and Hopper Plus products have been sold in more than 30 countries on six continents. Wi-LAN shares trade on the Alberta Stock Exchange under the symbol WIN. Detailed information on Wi-LAN can be found on the Web at wi-lan.com.
The Alberta Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the information contained herein. |
