Olds Fibre Ltd. hopes to launch O-Net, its fibre-to-the-premise broadband service, in mid-2012.
The company, which is a for-profit organization owned by the Olds Institute technology committee, is currently giving the option to interested people to sign up for its O-Net newsletter and have the opportunity to participate in pre-launch accounts.
"What we are looking to do with the website is let people know what kind of services we have coming forward,î said Lance G. Douglas, president and CEO of O-NET.
"We are hoping to get some beta clients or people that are willing to do some testing on the system in the areas that we have deployed fibre to.î
The company would like to start selling services this spring and get people connected to the network by mid-2012.
By having O-Net installed at their homes, Olds residents and businesses will have Internet, phone and television services delivered on the fast fibre network.
"We will be offering up to one GB per second speed. It will be extremely fast,î said Douglas.
"We know that our base Internet package speed will be at 100 MB per second download.î
Douglas also promises that the network's speed will not bottleneck.
"A lot of the times, even though you might have a really high-speed connection, it bottlenecks when it reaches the edge of town and it gets on the network for the incumbents,î he explained. "We will be taking away all the barriers that we can in connecting our members to the Internet, so that it will be as fast as possible on a 100 MB per second download.î
The company is still figuring plans and pricing options, but its goal is to assure the best value for the customer's dollar.
"We know we will have a $99 per month package, we do not know what it will be yet,î said Douglas.
While some of the services Olds Fibre Ltd. will offer through O-Net will be similar to what Shaw and Telus offer, Douglas insists that Olds Fibre Ltd. will not be competing with them.
"We will not have 500 channels. We are trying to sell what I call Community 2.0,î he said.
"That is where the phone, Internet and television will be integrated with everything that we have in town, whether it is the college, the town itself and other participants.î
Instead of offering 500 channels, O-Net will have video-on-demand as well as local content.
"With video-on-demand, you can watch TV when you want, rather than just waiting for the scheduled TV to come along,î said Douglas.
Based on studies done in U.S. towns with similar fibre-to the-premise services, Douglas believes that properties connected with O-Net will increase in value.
"That has been the case in other municipalities in the United States,î he said.
"We are hoping that it will be a benefit as well.î
The company has already received feedback from residents who cannot wait to see the network in action.
