Rainy to get high speed internet

Ken Johnston

While January is generally as slow time for most businesses, Norwest Mobility (NWM) plans on speeding things up for businesses.
“We have gone to a number of our tower locations and installed wireless high speed internet equipment and Rainy River is one of them,” said Timo Hiiback, Manager of Marketing and Business Development with NWM.
Hiiback said the service will be comparable with wireline (DSL) high speed internet service, something Rainy River has not be able to get as of yet.
The catch is, to provide the service to customers, Hiiback said they will have to charge more than $60 per month. “For that reason we are mainly targeting business customers at this time.” Comparably, most places that have high speed internet offer it for about $35-$45 per month. Hiiback said that the higher price tag will likely not be something that residential net users will want to pay.
Customers willing to pay the price will be able to sign up in the weeks to come as the equipment is already in place at the Rainy River tower. Anyone within a 5 kilometre range will be able to get the service using a standard antenna which is 12 inches high. Customers up to 14 km away will be able to access the service off the tower, “But they may need to use a booster,” said Hiiback.
Hiiback said that this service will also increase options for digital cell phone users in the area. Services like text messaging and internet access over the phones should soon be available.
At present NWM has not determined how customers will be able to sign up for the service. However, Rainy River Radio Shack, who has been the local cell phone service place, has been taking down names of interested parties.