BULLETIN
Z.A.P. Bas-Saint-Laurent deploys public access areas wireless
Internet throughout the region within three years
Rimouski, August 28th, 2009. – The ZAP Bas-Saint-Laurent organization has initiated a project to be completed in the next three years that will make the Lower St. Lawrence region the first in Québec to have public Internet wireless access zones on its entire territory. ZAP Bas-Saint-Laurent intends to serve the eight MRC of the Lower St. Lawrence for a potential of 116 local municipalities at the end of those three years.
Since January 2009, the non-profit organization ZAP, which is run by volunteers, is working on a strategy to implement in the region free access zones to Internet in public and transient areas. This will, no doubt, be welcomed by business people, professionals, students, visitors, as well as the local population, wishing to gain access to Internet in public areas, among others, restaurants, waiting rooms, offices, libraries, arenas, outdoor centers, schools, campsites, parks and municipal buildings.
The model used in the Lower St-Lawrence draws its inspiration from those in place in Sherbrooke, Québec and Montréal. The Lower St. Lawrence initiative is somehow particular because it touches not one specific area but an entire region. This will be a breakthrough in Québec. It is a real challenge due to the scale of the boundaries involved : large territory, number of potential public access zones, recruitment of likely places that would accept a public access zone, installation and configuration of the technical equipment and a promotional campaign to the targeted clientele.
Taking into account the existing territory, ZAP Bas-Saint-Laurent has developed two wireless Internet access approaches. In the rural area, the public access zones would be located in municipal buildings. In small towns of more than 4000 or 5000 residents, the ZAP services would be available in business offices, schools and tourist sites willing to offer an added-value to their clientele.
So far, 1100 potential ZAP sites have been identified in the eight MRC in the Lower St. Lawrence. The process of social awareness, information and recruitment related to public access zones will gradually begin this fall.
Trial phases in progress
Since June, eight sites have been selected for the completion of the first trial phase to implement public wireless access zones to Internet : one in Matane, six in Rimouski and one in Trois-Pistoles. The objective is to assess the technical feasibility of the project. This step will facilitate the evaluation and the selection of the most performant wireless router according to the areas and the needs and also facilitate the improvement in the transition and security software, the refinement of access procedures and the integration of the systems to existing equipments of selected ZAP institutions. This phase will end soon.
The second phase will last until October. It will allow enough time to test the elaborated systems, identify and train installers in the various MRC, recruit potential ZAP institutions, improve the security placeholders of the public access zones and test the business process approach of ZAP Bas-Saint-Laurent. In brief, nothing will be launched on a large scale before every aspect of the project has been carefully evaluated.
A free service for users
The ultimate goal of ZAP Bas-Saint-Laurent is to set up wireless public access zones to Internet free of charge for the users. The organization expects to become self-financing in the next two years with the ZAP memberships. Each member will pay to install a secure wireless router plus an annual fee according to terms to be specified. This will allow users to gain free access to Internet in different public areas.
An added-value offer for the memberships and the users
The basic principle in the creation of ZAP Bas-Saint-Laurent is simple. The organization wishes to make wireless access to Internet possible for everyone by inciting businesses, organizations and municipalities to make their own access to Internet available to their customers, hence, using the facilities already in place in each MRC.
ZAP Bas-Saint-Laurent does not replace the traditional providers of access to Internet. On the contrary, it helps to increase the membership for the services of access providers by improving the availability of wireless Internet in the region, due to high installation and security standards.
Services offered by ZAP Bas-Saint-Laurent will include the promotion of access to Internet, a privileged reference position of ZAP memberships on the Net, installations done by professionals, a strict management of the diffusion of each wireless router, secured solutions adapted to every ZAP membership, the help of a call center for the users and the ZAP establishments, a direct service on site in case of problems and a procedure of authentication to facilitate the tracing of the users sessions.
Source : Sylvain Dionne, communication consultant
418 863-6366 / info@sdcommunications.qc.ca