Bridging the Digital Divide
COMMUNITIES
The availability of modern, reliable and affordable communications will contribute measurably to a community’s economic development. In order to ensure infrastructure maintenance and long-term project sustainability, human resources will be developed in partnership with the communities, thereby providing skills training and jobs for local residents.
Young entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to start or enhance web-based ventures. For example, a gaming enthusiast could place a game server in the Open Gateway facility, connect to the Internet backbone and secure local customers over the wireless last mile. Local artists will have the digital capacity for the online production and distribution of northern cultural and Inuit language content.
Very importantly, robust connectivity will support regular software updates, facilitating more efficient management of equipment and networks in the communities. And households and professionals will have much better access to online instructional videos and self-education information, thereby increasing the community’s overall knowledge base.
Communities will no longer be at risk of a communications blackout, being cut off completely from the outside world, due to a fibre break or satellite failure. The Qimirluk solution provides redundant backbone access via dual satellites or a satellite-fibre combination to ensure secure connectivity in these remote communities in the event of an outage on one system or another.
Communities will benefit with skills training, local jobs and new business opportunities.
SERVICE
PROVIDERS
In remote communities, independent service providers are often, if not always, discouraged to establish a presence and offer competitive products due to the very high cost of building and maintaining the required local infrastructure. The Qimirluk solution opens “turnkey” opportunities for independent service providers by enabling access to:
- Regulated wholesale broadband on the open backbone
- Shared infrastructure and co-location facilities in the open gateway
- 4G-LTE wireless/mobile last mile technology
As a result, communities will benefit with a choice of competitive new services, better prices, local innovation and new technologies.
As well, Service Providers will require local representatives to assist customers in the community and to handle basic troubleshooting duties, thereby creating new jobs.
Available turnkey infrastructure for service providers means market competition, better prices, local innovation and new technologies.
GOVERNMENT
An open backbone and gateway solution will provide much needed capacity for territorial governments, aboriginal organizations and municipalities.
Transformative change is possible in the delivery of Education. Every classroom can be enabled with abundant bandwidth to access online curriculum support materials and to utilize modern video-conferencing technology to connect to educators and experts in other parts of the country and around the world. Adult distance learning programs will benefit greatly from efficient and reliable connectivity.
Health Care support in communities can be substantially improved with hi-definition video and data communications systems that allow every hospital and community health centre to access doctors and medical specialists in the south and to easily transfer large content files such as X-rays and MRI scans.
With inter-community video-conferencing for court hearings, justice departments can reduce costly travel for judges and staff, while addressing the ever-increasing backlog of court cases.
Government offices today are impeded in their ability to send large financial and design and files over the Internet. Geographic information system (GIS) files are critical for impact review processes, and environmental and land use planning, The Qimirluk solution will ensure abundant capacity to handle such mega-file transfers for both government and business.
Transformative change is possible in the delivery of Education. Health Care support in communities can be substantially improved.
CORPORATE
Canada’s North holds immense industrial and corporate potential, especially in the areas of mining, oil and gas, fishing, construction, transportation and environmental protection. For corporate growth and prosperity to be ensured, dramatically improved telecommunications services are required.
Qimirluk provides the long-term, sustainable solution that northern businesses demand in order to operate efficiently and on par with southern partners and clients. With the Qimirluk solution, corporations will contribute more effectively to the northern economy by having unprecedented access to:
- Advanced enterprise services
- Custom wide area networks (WAN)
- Private satellite networks
- Affordable 4G-LTE broadband and voice solutions for single and multi-office organizations
- Mobile voice and data services
- Service quality comparable to southern Canada
The Qimirluk backbone and open gateway system will dramatically improve telecommunications services for northern industries with advanced 4G-LTE broadband, mobile and voice solutions.
ARCTIC
SOVEREIGNTY
With 40% of Canada’s landmass in the three northern territories, including 162,000 kilometres of Arctic coastline, the Government of Canada is committed to exercising sovereignty over its Arctic lands and waters. This sovereignty is long-standing and well established, based on historic title, international law and the presence of Inuit and Aboriginal peoples.
International interest in the Arctic region is growing as a result of opportunities for resource development, climate change and new or extended seasonal access to transportation routes.
The Qimirluk solution will provide Canada the telecommunications capacity and tools required to support effective stewardship and leadership.
The Qimirluk solution will provide Canada the telecommunications capacity and tools required to support effective stewardship and leadership in the following areas:
- Search and rescue
- Icebreaker operations
- Fish and wildlife conservation
- Transportation
- Research
- Energy
- Environment
