The company chosen to expand high-speed Internet to rural New Brunswick says they will deliver the service as promised, but not everyone is so sure.
The province announced last week they chose Barrett Xplore as the company to expand coverage to every part of New Brunswick under their Xplornet brand.
Part of the plan includes using satellite service to reach areas with low population densities.
Fatkat Animation Studios systems administrator Sean McGraw lives in Trout Brook in one of New Brunswick's 39,000 homes without access to high-speed Internet.
He knows people who use Xplornet satellite and said he thinks it is way too slow.
"For me I wouldn't pay for it."
Xplornet was already established as a rural high-speed Internet provider in New Brunswick before the province chose them.
They acted as one of three Canadian resellers for American service provider HughesNet which is facing a class action lawsuit from customers in the U.S. The customers claim the company oversold its service which lead to limited access and speeds.
Barrett Xplore spokesman Allison Lenehan said Xplornet is considered a wholesaler instead of a reseller after taking over HugheNet's Canadian network in November 2008.
"We go buy the capacity and the equipment and we provide the service ourselves. It will be our own business, not theirs."
The company addressed concerns about bandwidth as part of their deal with the province and will be able to handle increased usage, he said.
"We've assured the province that we will."
Bandwidth is the amount of data that passes through a connection over a set period of time. Satellite high-speed service typically doesn't provide the same speeds as traditional providers like Aliant or Rogers and customers had to pay to get faster service.
Under the new agreement with the government, Xplornet's basic service will deliver higher speeds at a lower price than they offered in the past.
McGraw said the satellite service doesn't compare to what the other providers offer, even though the price has dropped.
"The price might be similar, but that's about it."
Lenehan said Xplornet will use three satellites for its New Brunswick customers, instead of just one, which will allow them to upgrade their current customers to a faster service.
"We have ensured we have sufficient capacity to upgrade those customers."
HughesNet launched a new satellite and Xplornet bought capacity on it to accommodate an increase in their customer base, he said.
"We acquired that capacity and can do with it as we choose."
Lenehan said they were limited in what they could offer in the past because they were a reseller, but as a wholesaler Xplornet has more freedom in the packages they offer.
"In essence, the configuration of the package and how it was governed would have been determined by the provider themself."
McGraw said the change in the business doesn't matter because Xplornet is still selling HughesNet's service.
"It's still the same service."
But he didn't know how the extra satellites would affect speeds and said he would have to see once more customers go online.
"I don't think it's something you can gauge until you can compare it to what it was in the past."
McGraw said if the government's goal is to be a leader in innovation, there are better technologies out there than satellite.
"I think there's better solutions that the government could put their money into."
Satellite is only one part of Barrett Xplores plan. The goal is to use fixed wireless to reach the majority of rural New Brunswickers who are currently without service with satellite filling gaps in the network.
Fixed wireless uses transmitters on towers to reach customers within a 10 kilometre area.
McGraw said he didn't know what Xplornet's criteria are for putting in a tower, but he thought there would be enough interest in the area where he lives.
"I'd be more than happy to try it if that was a solution."
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