VCom Inc. (Booth 109), which designs, manufactures and sells products that enable broadband access to cable, wireless and telephony networks, and Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Inc., a publicly traded agribusiness headquartered in Regina, Saskatchewan, have announced the establishment of a long-term relationship to expand high-speed technology to the Pool, its farm customers and communities throughout the province of Saskatchewan.
YourLink Inc., VCom’s subsidiary Internet serviceprovision company, and the Pool have entered into a seven-year agreement to extend YourLink’s wireless network coverage to more than 100 of the Pool’s grain-marketing and agri-product centers across Saskatchewan. Combining VCom’s Broadband Wireless Internet Network and newly developed WiMAX systems, YourLink will provide high-speed, wireless broadband service to the Pool’s Saskatchewan network.
As part of the agreement, many of the Pool’s sites will also become high-speed wireless access points that are expected to add several thousand subscribers to YourLink’s Saskatchewan base and generate $8 million in YourLink revenue over the life of the agreement.
Targeting farms and small communities within range of the Pool’s locations, YourLink will be able to provide high-speed Internet services to a large area of Saskatchewan beyond the areas already covered by its tower network.
“The Pool’s grain-handling network and strategically located agri-products facilities are a natural fit as access points,” said Surinder Kumar, VCom’s chairman and chief executive. “The height and centrality of these locations presents the strategic opportunity to provide Internet services to farms, businesses and residents in neighboring areas.”
As one of the largest companies in the province of Saskatchewan and a significant contributor to the economic fabric of rural communities, the Pool is expanding its commitment to agriculture through this initiative by providing its growers with access to the real-time information they require to compete in the global marketplace.
YourLink high-speed Internet service is currently available in 69 of the Pool’s 100 Saskatchewan locations. The remaining locations will be given access in the next 12 months.
YourLink also plans high-performance WiMAX installations beginning this fall in urban communities around Saskatchewan. This will be the first commercial deployment of VCom’s new WiMAX product in Canada and will provide regional Saskatchewan cities and businesses with advanced data services previously available only in large centers, the company said.
In other news, VCom announced it will change its name to Vecima Networks Inc. on Nov. 14, as part of a rebranding campaign.
