Vancouver startup offers ultra-fast Internet service to SMBs

Small and medium sized businesses in Vancouver looking for ultra-fast Internet service at discount prices may not have to search for long.

A local startup named OneGigabit is offering residential buildings and SMBs fibre broadband connection at a speed of one gigabit per second (Gbps) for a price lower that what some more established providers are charging.

Eric Kuhnke, owner of OneGigabit, said his company plans are around $45 to $65.

Advertised fibre Internet speeds offered by Rogers Communications, Bell Canada and Shaw Communications are around 175 to 250 megabits per second (Mbps) and cost about $115 to $226 a month.

Kuhnke also pointed out that network infrastructure of incumbent providers are hampered by legacy installations. For instance, ultra-fast Internet speeds can be achieved if the last-mile connection that links a building to the network is made of fibre optic cable. However many last-mile connections still consist of copper wiring.

“For far too long, with the near monopoly large residential ISPs in the Vancouver area, they’ve been content to extract revenues from copper cable that installed 20, 30 or 40 years ago,” said Kuhnke is statement. “DSL service over copper phone lines and cable modem service over copper coaxial cables are significantly limited in speed and bandwidth compared to fibre optic access technology.”

“Without significant upgrades in last-mile Internet access technology in the Vancouver area, our city cannot gain the economic benefits of incredibly fast, affordable Internet access,” he said.

OneGigabit’s service is deployed through a combination of last-mile fibre optic and high capacity point-to-point microwave wireless with rooftop antennas. The service provides a “true 1Gbps fibre to the home” connection for individual residents and SMB locations in Vancouver, according to the company.

OneGigabit is currently partnering with local real estate development firms, building owners and managers to hook up small office buildings, apartments and condominiums that are not able to obtain fibre connection.

Using this approach, building owners and OneGigabit can share the cost of running the fibre to the building. Kunhke can also install rooftop microwave transmitters to beam data from building to building.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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