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Telecom 2011 Conference: Broadband Breakthrough - Major Advancements Forecast for Northern Canada

Rouyn, Québec, June 14, 2011: This Fall, northern Quebec will able to connect directly to Eeyou Communications Network (ECN) broadband. The quality of this new fibre optic facility will outperform most Canadian networks. Canada’s telecom regulator has called on all Canadian service providers to match the standards that ECN plans to deliver.

These were the highlights of announcements at Telecom 2011, a conference organized by the Secretariat to the Cree Nation – Abitibi-Temiscamingue Economic Alliance, an organization of all Northern Quebec Cree communities and the municipalities of the Abitibi-Temiscamingue.

Hosted by Cree Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come and Rouyn-Noranda Mayor Mario Provencher, the event promoted innovative broadband services, such as videoconferencing, distance education, public Internet transit and telemedicine. These types of services will be available on ECN, an over 1,600 Km fibre optic facility connecting Eeyou Istchee and the James Bay communities through its own backbone to national and international networks.

According to executive director for telecommunications at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission John Traversy, the CRTC has now raised the national standard so that all Canadians, including residents of the North and Aboriginal communities, have access to better broadband services.

He told the 175 delegates from the Cree and Abitibi communities that “all Canadians should have access to broadband speeds of at least 5 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloads and 1 Mbps for uploads by the end of 2015.” The previous levels were below 1 megabits for downloading.

Traversy cited ECN as a model for broadband delivery. “The ECN is a great example of what is happening all across the country. Internet service providers are partnering with different levels of government to develop successful funding models to meet the growing demand for broadband Internet access in every corner of Canada.”

Reaching All Parts of James Bay
ECN expects to start operations in September 2011 and bring full broadband services, including telehealth, distance education, videoconferencing, and IP services to all nine Cree communities and Chibougamau, Chapais, Quevillon, Matagami, Radisson and Saint-Felicien.

Michel Vanier, head of Quebec’s RISQ network, a 6,000 km Quebec-wide fibre optic research and distance education facility told the meeting that the network can connect to ECN. Vanier said that Eeyou Istchee can easily access world-wide networks through their point of service in St. Félicien.

RISQ reaches deep into the US for primary Internet services and connects to global markets through the cross-Canada Canarie service. In addition, it also connects to schools and hospitals.

Telehealth could be delivered to all Cree and non-Aboriginal centres in James Bay before the year end. Madeleine St-Gélais, a director of the Quebec RUIS network, described how telemedicine can deliver up to six new medical specialties into the region.

Dr. Paul Emile Barbeau, director of medical service for the Ville Marie hospital and a family doctor, told the conference that technology can support doctors to provide better patient care and ensure that outlying regions get the same quality of service as large cities.

Industrial applications were also demonstrated by a direct video communication from the bottom of a mine by Université de Quebec Abitibi-Témiscamingue engineer Mohammed Ailas. And four northern community network operators described how improved broadband, like the new ECN facility, will help them deliver new IP services to consumers and services.

Researcher Rob MacMahon, who recently completed a national study of all Canadian First Nations telecom networks, told the conference that no other regional network in Canada has the fibre backbone capability of ECN.

Don Barraclough, president of First National Tel and the only Native telephone executive in Canada, added: “Our goal is to create a strong Aboriginal presence in the marketplace. And now with the growth of community networks and, finally, quality Internet service to remote and isolated communities, we now have the capacity to grow.”

Reshaping the Globe

Ten years ago as head of Canada’s Assembly of First Nations, Matthew Coon Come led a campaign to bring broadband to all Canadian First Nations and convinced the federal government to put connectivity on the national agenda.

“Today, the communities of Eeyou Istchee and the James Bay area stand at the doorway to the Information Technology economy. Our digital divide will soon be history,” he told the delegates. “We were missed by the industrial economy. Our people were moved to the sidelines and we missed out on many job skills and opportunities. We do not intend to miss out on the Information Technology Revolution.

“With advanced communication services and infrastructure, we will be a full partner in the new Information Technology economy – a sector that in the past has been severely inaccessible.”

ECN President Alfred Loon opened the event by comparing telecom with a Rubik’s Cube. “This Rubik’s Cube can be reshaped it into 43 quintillion combinations. That’s equal to more than 6 billion possibilities for each and every one of the 7 billion people on our planet. Fibre-optics will provide an even greater number of ways for people to access information and to communicate with the world. This is as close as we can get to describe the power of fibre optics to deliver bandwidth.”

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Source: Chantal Hamelin, 819-824-9888
SCNATCA
hamelin.chantal[at]cablevision.qc.ca

Hyman Glustein, 514-481- 0010
Cree Regional Authority
hglustein[at]rtscanada.com