WiMAX invades upper Normandy

PARIS (WiMAX Day). Le Conseil Général de Seine Maritime announced the wireless invasion of the upper region of Normandy. By next month nearly all of the inhabitants of Seine Maritime will have access to the Internet. Seine Maritime is the administrative department for the region.

While ADSL services have been available in major cities such as Rouen, Dieppe and Le Havre, the region has had many “white zones” where no broadband access was available.

To rectify this problem, the department deployed a wireless network comprised of 35 WiMAX base stations that will provide broadband access throughout the region to some 14,000 homes. The network is also complemented with 73 WiFi antennas that extend access to municipal buildings.

The network will be operated by HDRR using its 3.5 GHz WiMAX spectrum license. HDRR is a subsidiary of TDF Group, a French company that is one of the leading terrestrial broadcast service operators in Europe.

HDRR will operate the network for Seine Maritime in partnership with Axione and LD Collectivités. Axione is a subsidiary of Bouygues Construction group, and LD Collectivités is a subsidiary of Neuf Cegetel. Both company’s specialise in the design, construction and operation of broadband and telecommunications infrastructure on behalf of local authorities in France.

The marketing and commercialisation of the new WiMAX service will be put to tender later this month, but most likely will be awarded to Nordnet and Infosat, two local ISPs.

In a press release, the Conseil Général said that the commercial service will offer up to 1 Mbps of service with an attractive price scheme. The Conseil Général admit that 1 Mbps is “far from luxurious, but the network will offer comfortable access where before it was impossible.” Increased speeds may be available for the general public in the future, and the Conseil Général said that more bandwidth will soon be proposed for business users.

Customers who subscribe to the service will be required to purchase an access modem (CPE) for roughly €127 EUR, of which up to 85% will be subsidised by the ISPs that market the service.

The impact on the local population now living outside the boundary of traditional boradband services should be substantial, especially for businesses. Camille Rotunno, a spokeswoman for the Conseil Général, said the network “answers a real and immediate need expressed by companies based in rural areas, irrespective of their size, business or their market sector…. the goal of the Conseil Général de Seine Maritime is to provide the local economy with the tools that are necessary and fundamental to its operation and development.”

This is good news for Alice de Scudéry, a horse breeder in the rolling hills outside the town of Yvetot. “Broadband access will allow me to keep contact with my clients and know where the market is moving. I can’t do that now.”

Agriculture, which powers the local economy, is expected to be a major beneficiary of the WiMAX services. “For example, for the farming community, companies could enjoy specific services enabling them to improve their quality and productivity,” said Rotunno.

The coastline of upper Normandy is also scattered with many small businesses from aquaculture and ship-building, to lace and porcelain manufacturing. Guillaume Delavigne makes traditional wooden yachts near to the port city of Le Havre. His atelier and workshop lies some 500 metres from the closest ADSL connection. “I’ve tried many times to get Internet. All my neighbors have it, but not me, because I’m at the end of the line. I hope this WiMAX comes soon. It can help me a lot in marketing my business.”

Even the small village of Ry, fictionalised by the French writer Gustave Flaubert in the 19th century, will enjoy improved broadband Internet access. If only Madame Bovary lived in the present day, she might have found happiness in the benefits of crossing the digital divide, with its myriad divertissements.
Source: wimaxday.net