Telus is spending $1 million this year to bring fast wireless internet to Osoyoos and to upgrade wired internet for residents and businesses.
The company will be making 4G LTE wireless internet service available in Osoyoos later this year, probably in the fall, said Shawn Hall, a spokesperson for Telus.
LTE stands for Long Term Evolution and is currently the fastest standard of wireless internet. The expected download speed is 12 – 25 megabits per second (Mbps), which is about two to three times faster than the current HSPA+ standard.
“By the end of last year, we had covered about 90 per cent of B.C.’s population with LTE,” Hall said, adding that Telus is expanding its coverage now to communities like Osoyoos, as well as along highway corridors.
Currently LTE is offered throughout the Okanagan from the Okanagan Falls area northward. To use LTE, wireless customers need an LTE-capable device.
“We’re really building this out so that the next time you go and buy a new smart phone, whether it’s an iPhone 5, the latest BlackBerry or Android, it’s going to be able to take advantage of these speeds,” said Hall.
The work in Osoyoos also includes upgrading the fibre optic network which allows Telus to provide wired internet access to homes and businesses, Hall said.
“What we’re doing is we’re visiting every site that we have in Osoyoos this year and installing new antennas, and new hardware in the buildings that are with the towers,” Hall said. “We’re doing the work now tower by tower.”
While he could not provide an exact date when LTE will be available in Osoyoos, he said it would be later this year, probably around the fall.
The current upgrade builds on an investment in technology infrastructure in Osoyoos in 2009 and takes it to another level, Hall said.
By the end of this year, Telus will have invested $4 million in new technology and infrastructure in Osoyoos since 2009. Hall was not able to provide specific information about whether the work will boost employment in Osoyoos.
“We have to use specialized contractors to do this work,” said Hall. “It’s very technical work. That said, we do have a fairly significant employee base in the Osoyoos area already of technical folks throughout the Okanagan.”
Hall said that customers of Koodo Mobile, which is owned by Telus, will also have access to LTE in Osoyoos. He was not able to provide specific information about whether customers of Bell Mobility would have access.
Bell and Telus wireless customers use each other’s towers across Canada.
BY RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
