Ahead, warp nine!

Ken Johnston

Don’t blink... you might miss the download!
Thunder Bay Tel was in Rainy River last week installing the equipment for high speed wireless internet services that just became available in the community.
Timo Hiiback, Manager of Marketing and Business Development with the company said Monday, “Installations went well.”
A total of five were installed including Rainy River Radioshack. Owner Lance Lindal was very impressed with the speed.
The initial targets for the new service was businesses in Rainy River as the cost for the service is $64.95 per month. A price that T. Bay Tel thought would be out of the reach of many residential customers. However, some of the five installs in Rainy River were residential.
Hiiback said, “We are reconsidering offering the service to residents at a lower rate. We have to relook the numbers and see if we can make it work.” He said they will likely not be able to offer high speed at the same prices people are getting elsewhere (around $35-40/month) but perhaps, “somewhere in between.”
The company is working on setting up a local dealership where the public or businesses can sign up for the service. Until then anyone wishing to do so can call T. Bay Tel customer service at 1-800-478-0879 and get the ball rolling.
Installation crews will be back at the end of March for sure, but Hiiback said they may be back sooner if there is enough demand for the service.
It is a “DSL like” service said Hiiback. An external antenna is installed on the customer’s building and high speed signals are transmitted between the local cell tower and them. Lindal said he figured it was faster than a T1 connection. Hiiback could not confirm that, but said that the crews were pleased with how the installs went and were working.