Duane Hicks
Tbaytel’s new “Fibre” service will be available here by November.
While there’s still plenty of work to be done, “we’re well on our way now,” Dan Pella, manager of business sales for Tbaytel, told those on hand at the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s annual general meeting last Thursday evening at La Place Rendez-Vous.
The actual fibre build (i.e., the installation of the fibre optic network) will take place this July through to mid-October or early November.
“That’s when we’ll be ready to fire up the service for the actual customers,” noted Pella.
“That’s when you’ll start to see the benefits from it.”
Tbaytel first announced “Fibre” back in December to let the community know it was coming. But Pella explained there’s a lot of engineering work that goes into installing a fibre-optic network and it doesn’t just happen overnight.
Several other fibre-related projects also are–or soon will be–taking place prior to the service being launched.
For instance, Sight & Sound, which has been working with Tbaytel to serve mobility customers locally since 1999, is renovating its interior and exterior in preparation to sell all of the “Fibre” services to both residential and business customers.
The makeover, which is to enhance the Tbaytel retail presence, is expected to be completed by the end of May or early June, and will coincide with Sight & Sound’s 40th anniversary in business.
When completed, Pella noted it will have the same look and feel as Tbaytel’s retail store in Thunder Bay.
Tbaytel, meanwhile, is undertaking its businesses assessment phase, where it is visiting any business that wants “Fibre” to assess whether they’ll be able to provide it.
Pella urged any interested businesses to contact Tbaytel for a no-cost, no-commitment assessment.
This process will go on until the end of June.
As well, Tbaytel will build a central office on Sixth Street West (across from the recycling depot) between June and September.
Pella clarified this office won’t be a retail store–Sight & Sound is. Rather, the central office will be a technical infrastructure headquarters, where the actual fibre services will terminate.
One of the main reasons why Tbaytel chose to deploy “Fibre” in Fort Frances is the Fort Frances Power Corp. has done an exceptional job maintaining its infrastructure.
Among the most efficient and cost-effective ways to expand a fibre optic network is to use existing infrastructure–in this case, attaching Tbaytel’s equipment to hydro poles.
Since the hydro poles here are in excellent shape (thanks to the due diligence of the FFPC), this makes the project much easier to achieve.
The FFPC has been keeping on top of its infrastructure thanks to its Geographic Information System (GIS), which has allowed it to do assessments of each and every pole that it owns and undertake an aggressive pole replacement program.
Another reason Tbaytel is bringing “Fibre” here is to provide the Fort Frances area with better service and more options.
Pella said Tbaytel has had a lot of talks–both with Sight & Sound and customers–about how underserved Fort Frances businesses and residents are, with slow Internet speeds and limited options.
“We have a great partner in Sight & Sound, a great mobility base here already–one of our strongest markets–and it made sense for us to come here,” he remarked.
Tbaytel also will be providing “healthy competition” to providers like Bell and Shaw, giving consumers choices, added Pella.
Tbaytel Fibre will allow its customers to bundle together up to five different services–high-speed Internet, digital TV, landline phone, security, and mobility–all from a single provider, as well as provide more bandwidth (i.e., the amount of data that can be moved across the Internet in a given amount of time).
The higher the bandwidth, the faster your upload and download speeds, said Pella, adding fibre optics are “future-proof” and will be able to support increases in bandwidths for decades to come.
“Right now, we can offer up to 200MB download and a 100MB upload,” he noted.
“It’s limitless–the only limit is the equipment.”
The higher bandwidth will improve everything from video calling, HD streaming, and online gaming to digital media sharing, photo and music downloading, and social networking, allowing all users in a home to receive all of Tbaytel’s services seamlessly.
For businesses, they will have faster uploads to cloud-based services, along with faster point of sale transactions and online ordering.
“Fibre” also will support innovation, health care, education program delivery, and business development–and even help the FFPC, which has more and more intelligent devices in its network making decisions.
In order for those to be able to operate safely and efficiently as a “Smart Grid,” the FFPC needs a reliable communication network–which will be “Fibre.”
Pella noted Tbaytel has had very few trouble calls from its “Fibre” customers in Thunder Bay, adding anything “short of an earthquake” will not disrupt service.
If problems do arise, Tbaytel will have several regional technicians working here.
To keep updated on “Fibre,” visit www.tbaytel.net
