Xplornet to invest $500M to upgrade wireless, internet service in rural areas

WOODSTOCK, N.B. — Xplornet Communications Inc. says it plans to spend $500 million over the next five years to update its network to provide fifth-generation wireless services and faster internet in rural parts of Canada.  

The New Brunswick-based national carrier uses a combination of fibre optics and wireless to provide voice and internet service, usually just outside city limits, as well as satellite service to more remote parts of Canada.

Company spokesman James Maunder says Xplornet’s current maximum residential internet speed is 25 megabits per second but that will double to 50 mbps by the end of 2019 and double again to 100 mbps by 2020.

Xplornet says a tax provision in the federal government’s 2018 fall economic update will help it make the investments.

The federal government has said its new “accelerated investment incentive” was designed to make it more attractive for businesses of all sizes and all sectors of the economy to buy assets that will drive their growth.

Canada’s largest telecommunications networks — as well as major carriers around the world — have spent billions of dollars in recent years to get ready to roll out 5G networks over the next decade or so.

 

 

 

The Canadian Press

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