Rob Klein to participate in panel on All Things Private Equity on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at Paris Las Vegas Convention Center

 Toronto, ON, CANADA  and Las Vegas, NV, USA (October 4, 2022) – PomeGran Inc., a leading owner and operator of fibre and fixed wireless rural broadband networks across Canada, under the brands of IceNet Wireless, CochraneTel, Digicom and Canquest Communications, is pleased to announce that Rob Klein, PomeGran’s Vice President of Fibre Business Strategy will be a panelist on Wednesday, October 5, 2022, at the All Things Private Equity session, which will be moderated by Michael Mazer.

The Wireless Internet Service Provider Association’s (“WISPA”) WISPAPALOOZA (www.wispaevents.org) is the industry’s largest yearly event, bringing together 2000+ individuals to celebrate the WISP community, who provide fixed broadband connectivity, equipment suppliers, support services, and other industry partners and stakeholders. WISPA members provide broadband access to millions of residential and business customers in rural, urban and Tribal areas across America.

The panel will discuss what roles Private Equity firms play in exit strategies, business combinations/consolidations, and in providing growth capital. The panel will be moderated by Michael Mazer. “We are very excited to be participating as a panelist in WISPAPALOOZA 2022. These are very exciting times to be a wireless internet service provider, especially in light of the $200 billion in Government broadband funding initiatives driving industry growth and consolidation,” said Dr. Kalai S. Kalaichelvan, Chairman, PomeGran. “Rob brings a wealth of experience in working with private equity firms,” he concluded.

Rob will be presenting a summary of the PomeGran white paper during the panel discussion, titled: How does the proposed new FCC broadband standard affect communities and industry?

Rob and his team are responsible for the acquisition and commercialization of broadband assets and leads the company’s M&A team. Throughout his career, Rob has worked with private equity firms and in 2019 sold his start-up to a NYC private equity firm.

Prior to joining PomeGran, Rob held various senior executive positions in Canadian/U.S. private and public telecommunications and technology companies and has led the acquisition of 30+ companies. Rob was part of the executive team that helped Globalive launch Wind Mobile (Freedom Mobile) in 2008, and helped co-found the Application Service Provider (precursor to SaaS and Cloud computing) industry in the late 1990’s. In addition, Rob has authored two case studies for the Blockchain Research Institute.

Please contact Rob at rob@eion.com or (416) 937-0657 to schedule a meeting at WISPAPALOOZA.

The WISPAPALOOZA Panel will take place at Paris Las Vegas Convention Center, Versailles 4 Ballroom at 3pm PST on Wednesday, October 5, 2022.

About PomeGran Inc.

PomeGran Inc., headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, owns and operates fibre and fixed wireless broadband networks across Canada and is an IoT Managed Services Provider that delivers a secure, AI-powered, self-healing platform for Smart Infrastructure. PomeGran, through its EION subsidiary, is a global provider of Broadband Wireless access products that enable effective, economic, and secure wireless high-speed communications solutions.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Sumedha Prasad
PomeGran Inc.
C: (437) 286-9630
E: sumedha@eion.com
W:  www.pomegran.io

Introduction

The COVID pandemic has dramatically shown how reliant we are on the Internet for work, play and social interaction. People who lack access to high-speed Internet (hereto referred to as “broadband”), don’t just miss out, but they may fall behind. Broadband services have gone from a nice to have to an essential service. Furthermore, the pandemic has also exposed that today’s broadband speeds, which the U.S. and Canadian Governments set 5+ years ago, are insufficient for the needs of today’s society.

The COVID pandemic has dramatically shown how reliant we are on the Internet for work, play and social interaction. People who lack access to high-speed Internet (hereto referred to as “broadband”), don’t just miss out, but they may fall behind. Broadband services have gone from a nice to have to an essential service. Furthermore, the pandemic has also exposed that today’s broadband speeds, which the U.S. and Canadian Governments set 5+ years ago, are insufficient for the needs of today’s society.

This is especially pronounced in rural, first nations/tribal and other underserved communities, where lack of broadband can limit people’s ability to work or learn online, or properly receive government support or digital health services. Traditionally, Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”) that service these markets deploy, fixed wireless, digital subscriber line (“xDSL”), cable or satellite technologies. However, none of these technologies generally offer the broadband speeds, especially in rural areas, that meet the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) definition of broadband, namely 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload (“25/3”).

Part of the problem that ISPs have in serving rural or under-served markets with broadband services, is that they typically have low housing density which translates into higher deployment costs. This is further compounded by the fact that their customers may not be able to afford the higher priced and more profitable higher internet speed packages that are common in cities.

In the U.S., the FCC sets the standard for a minimum broadband speed that serves as the benchmark for its determination whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion”. In Canada, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (“CRTC”), is the regulatory agency that establishes broadband speed standards.

On July 15, 2022, the FCC Chairwoman,1 Jessica Rosenworcel, put forth a Notice of Inquiry initiating the FCC’s annual evaluation of the state of broadband across the U.S. As part of her assessment, Chairwoman proposed increasing the national standard for minimum broadband speeds, and proposed setting a new benchmark for broadband speed to 100/20 Mbps.

In addition, it was proposed, for the first time, that the FCC should consider “affordability, adoption, availability, and equitable access” in determining whether broadband is being deployed sufficiently.

This whitepaper will exam FCC Chairwoman’s recent Notice of Inquiry, especially as it relates to rural and under-served markets, and its implications regarding:

• Current broadband standards.
• The gap in providing broadband access in Canada and the U.S.
• How this change will impact consumers and the broadband industry.
• Government programs that are available to address this gap.
• Why is there a need to increase the broadband standard to 100/20?

Setting a New Broadband Standard

According to a recent Tufts University study,² only 29% of those living in rural U.S. have access to the FCC broadband benchmark today, compared to 67% in non-rural areas.

If the FCC expands the definition to include Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s affordability, adoption, availability, and equitable access, as part of the determinant factors, it could expand the number of under-served Americans to 140 million.

The FCC, under Section 706(b) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-104) (Section 706 hereinafter), defines the minimum national broadband speed. If through its annual review, they determine that the standard is insufficient, they are directed to take action to accelerate deployment through the establishment of new broadband programs or to use regulatory tools to remove barriers to infrastructure, investment, and competition.³

In 1996, the FCC set the national broadband standard at 200 Kbps. In 2010, they upgraded the standard to 4/1 Mbps. In the FCC’s 2010 Broadband Progress Report,⁴ they justified updating the standard as necessary to accommodate video alongside basic browsing.

In July 2015, the FCC raised the U.S. national broadband standard to 25/3 Mbps, while the Canadian government has defined broadband as 50/10. In their associated broadband progress report, they specifically took issue with the lack of broadband connectivity in rural and tribal areas. According to their report, 53% of rural consumers didn’t have access to 25/3 Internet speeds, and in tribal lands that rose to 63%.

Against the 2015 FCC mandate, the industry’s largest broadband providers argued that the 4/1 threshold continued to meet consumer broadband needs, while FCC Commissioners argued that 25/3 speed wasn’t necessary as most consumers could stream High Definition (“HD”) videos at 4 Mbps.

On July 15, 2022, the FCC put forth a Notice of Inquiry initiating the FCC’s annual evaluation of the state of broadband across the U.S. As part of the assessment, Chairwoman Rosenworcel proposed increasing the national standard for minimum broadband speeds, and proposed setting a new benchmark for broadband speed to 100 Mbps/20 Mbps (termed as 100/20). The Notice of Inquiry was generally well-received and acknowledged to be long overdue, the cable and fibre broadband providers criticized the proposal as misguided as it focused on benchmark speeds that they, cable and fibre broadband providers, currently met or exceeded, while not addressing issues such as:

• Symmetric Bandwidth – being able to send as much information as you receive.
• Low Latency –reducing the lag time it takes for information to go from its source to a computer, laptop, etc.; or
• Concurrency – providing a consistent quality of experience, regardless of the number of participants or where they are physically located.

It is important to note that the above criteria play to the strengths and capabilities of cable and fibre broadband networks.

The Gap in Providing Broadband

In 2022, there is still a significant gap in availability and access to broadband connectivity in rural and first nation/tribal markets both in Canada and the United States. According to the FCC, in 2021:

• 6.6 Million of all U.S. population did not have access to at least 25/3 broadband services in 2021, compared to 26Million in 2016. However when looking solely at rural households, this fell to 41.9 Million rural population did not have access to at least 25/3 broadband services compared to 105.4 Million in 2016.
• 92% of U.S. households had access to 100/20 broadband services, up from 65% in 2016.

However, how the FCC calculates the number of U.S. households without broadband access is based on a fundamental flaw. The FCC uses, as the basis for its estimates, the semi-annual, self-reporting by ISPs using the FCC-mandated “Form 477.” It is widely acknowledged that the flaw with Form 477 is that if an ISP offers service to at least one household in a census block (see Appendix on what a census block is), then the FCC counts the household population within the census block as covered by the ISP. Adjusting for this error, analysts estimate at least 42 million Americans lack access to broadband Internet. Tufts University,7 further expanded on this research, incorporating the criteria that FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel included in her recent Notice of Inquiry: affordability, adoption, availability, and equitable access. Based on these expanded criteria, they estimate that 172 million Americans are under-served.

In Canada, according to the CRTC:

• In 2020, 89.5% of Canadians had access to 50/10 broadband services, while only 54.3% of rural and 39% of First Nations households, respectively, had access.
• In 2021, 93.5% of Canadian households had access to 100/20 or better broadband services. However only 17% of households subscribed to 50 – 99 Mbps broadband services, and an additional 22% of Canadian households subscribe to less than 50/10 service. The most commonly cited reason for not subscribing to the higher speed services was cost.

Government Programs That Address This Gap

Over the past several years both the Canadian and United States governments have initiated several large-scale programs to narrow or eliminate this gap. The U.S. Government has over the past 5+ years committed over $200 billion on broadband initiatives. Some of the largest programs include:

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: allocates $65 billion for broadband improvements.

Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program: includes $42.45 billion focused on connecting under-served areas by funneling money through state grants. Each State will receive an initial allocation of $100 million, with additional funding to be distributed, based on FCC coverage maps. In order to receive funding, states must submit a five-year action plan that identifies locations that should be prioritized for support; outlines how to serve unconnected locations; and assesses how long it would take to build out universal broadband.

Affordable Connectivity Program: $14.2 billion in funding to subsidize monthly Internet connectivity, the FCC has said more than 12 million households had enrolled in the program as of June 2022.

Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program: $2 billion in funding.

Rural Utilities Service Distance Learning: $2 billion in funding.

Telemedicine and Broadband Program: $2 billion in funding.

Since 2015, Government of Canada investments have helped more than 175,000 rural and remote households across Canada gain access to high-speed Internet. The Canadian government has committed Can$7.2 billion to broadband Internet infrastructure, including:

Universal Broadband Fund: The Universal Broadband Fund program is now closed for applications. The application guide details the UBF application requirements and provides information on assessment criteria. The $2.75 billion Universal Broadband Fund supports high-speed Internet projects in rural and remote communities. The UBF includes:

• Up to $50 million for mobile Internet projects that primarily benefit Indigenous peoples, including projects along highways and roads where mobile connectivity is lacking.
• Up to $750 million for large, high-impact projects.
• A Rapid Response Stream for ‘shovel-ready’ projects that can be completed quickly.

CRTC Broadband Fund: The CRTC Broadband Fund supports projects that provide Internet and mobile wireless services in eligible under-served areas of Canada.

Canada Infrastructure Bank: The Canada Infrastructure Bank provides loans and equity for large-scale broadband projects in unserved and under-served communities.

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Capacity Agreement: The Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Capacity Agreement with Telesat secures capacity on LEO satellites to connect the most challenging areas in Canada to high-speed Internet. Telesat will make LEO capacity available to Internet service providers in designated remote and satellite-dependent communities at a reduced, fixed price per month.

Connect to Innovate: The Connect to Innovate program supports backbone infrastructure projects to connect institutions like schools and hospitals. A portion of funding also supports last-mile infrastructure to connect households and businesses.

First Nation Infrastructure Fund: The First Nation Infrastructure Fund provides funding to improve the quality of life and the environment of First Nation communities by addressing the long-standing infrastructure gaps on reserves in eight project categories, including connectivity.

Investing in Canada Program – Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure Stream: The Rural and Northern Communities Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Program supports a variety of infrastructure projects, including broadband, in rural and northern communities through bilateral agreements with each province and territory.

In addition, provincial governments either independently or in partnership with the Federal Government offer their own broadband funding programs, including, but not limited to:

• The Government of Ontario has committed nearly
  $4 billion to ensure all Ontarians have access to high-speed Internet by the end of 2025.
• The Quebec Government, in partnership with the Federal Government, has committed $826 million to connect nearly 150,000 homes to high-speed Internet by September 2022.

While Governments should be lauded for their commitment and funding to provide broadband for all of its citizens, critics say they do not go far enough because some of their funding initiatives do not necessarily focus enough on:

• People/households being served vs coverage areas.
• Providing affordable broadband services/digital equity.
• Quality of the service to ensure the best user experience.
• Addressing under-served markets, irrespective if they are rural or urban.
• Aligning and ensuring that the funding benefits or improves local economic development, education, public safety, health care, and industry and in rural markets the agricultural sector; and
• Community outreach to ensure that it addresses the needs of potential customers.

A lot of the newer government programs require local and state/provincial governments as part of their planning, submission and funding process to address the above issues and concerns.

Why increase the broadband standard to 100/20 Mbps?

COVID has exposed that the broadband standards that Governments established more than 5 years ago are insufficient for the needs of today’s society, and that without access to affordable broadband services, a significant segment (42 – 147 million people) of the Canadian and U.S. populations are being left behind. In addition, research shows that higher broadband speeds lead to improvement in both societal and economic development, not just as the national but also the local level. According to:

Analysis Group:⁸

Cities with over a Gigabit connection, had an overall healthier economy. In their research, Analysis Group compared 14 metropolitan U.S. areas, where more than 50% of the population had access to broadband, to 41 neighboring cities without  it, and they reported that cities with Ggigabit connections, could support a 1.1% higher gross domestic product than other “slow Internet” cities.

Deloitte:⁹

Deloitte redicted that a “10% point increase of broadband penetration in the U.S., in 2016 would have resulted in more than 806,000 additional jobs in 2019. According to their analyses, adding 10 Mbps to average download speeds in 2016 would have resulted in more than 139,000 additional jobs by 2019.

Moreover, they found a strong correlation between broadband availability and jobs and GDP growth. A 10% point increase of broadband access in 2014 would have resulted in more than 875,000 additional U.S. jobs and U$186 billion more in economic output in 2019. In addition, their research showed gains in jobs were stronger when Internet speeds increased from 50 to 100 Mbps than the gains in jobs from increases in Internet speeds then from 100 to 150 Mbps.

Brookings Institute:¹⁰

Increasing access and usage of broadband infrastructure in rural areas leads to higher property values, increased job and population growth, higher rates of new business formation, and lower unemployment rates. Broadband expansion can also improve health and life outcomes, by offering access to remote healthcare providers, online social networks, and educational opportunities. In their cost-benefit analysis of rural Indiana, they found a 3x – 4x returns on investment, not including state and local governments’ cost savings on medical expenditures and additional tax revenues from increased incomes as a result of broadband network expansion.

The Potential Impact of Moving to a New Broadband Standard

Consumers:

Will benefit from the ubiquity of broadband services irrespective of where they are located, which will help reduce the digital divide, and will vastly expand their ability of consumers to do HD video conferencing for accessing education, health care or government services. This will especially be true if the FCC expands their definition of what constitutes access to broadband services to include affordability and digital equity.

Equipment Manufacturers:

xDSL, fixed wireless, and satellite equipment (excluding new players like Starlink) may have to invest in R&D as their equipment may not meet the proposed new speed requirements. In addition, most of these services rely on asymmetrical download/upload services (e.g., 25/3, 50/10 or 100/20), while FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel and several U.S. Senators are pushing for symmetrical (e.g., 100/100) services, which are increasingly popular with services like video conferencing.

The Broadband Industry:

While companies that serve urban and densely populated areas may not have problems adjusting to the increase in the new proposed speed benchmark. According to the NCTA – The Internet and Television Association the industry trade and lobbying association for medium-sized and large cable companies, the average U.S. (cable) download speed has grown to 226 Mbps in June 2022.

However, for ISPs that serve rural and under-served markets, the new proposed FCC standard(s) of:

If accepted, this could pose potential severe challenges to their business. In that, if these ISPs are unable to raise their broadband speeds or address affordability and digital inequality issues (potential key determinant in future Government funding), they could see their customers migrate to companies that offer newer technology delivery services (see Appendix – Newer technology delivery services for greater details), such as:

In addition, broadband providers that rely on asymmetrical services delivery technologies (e.g., xDSL, wireless or most satellite) may have to upgrade their network to either newer technologies or fibre, which in rural low population dense areas may not make economic sense without significant Government support.

Government funding of broadband initiatives.

Should the new standards go into effect, the Government may have to rethink their incentives and grant programs This will especially be true if the FCC Commissioners (2 of the 4 commissioners are Republican and the U.S. Senate has yet to confirm Gigi Sohn’s (Dem.) nomination) agree to include symmetry, affordability, and digital equity as part of the new standards. Currently several U.S. States are including up to 1 Gbps speeds, affordability, and digital equity in their criteria for their allocation of Federally funded grants and programs.

In addition, the FCC will need to consider how increasing the national broadband standard may affect ISPs ability to deploy certain technologies in areas of:

•  low population density which may make it either economically or technically not feasible, or
• with high poverty rates where affordability plays a key role in broadband adoption.

In a global context, the European Union (“EU”) has proposed its Gigabit Society goal that by 2030, all European households will be covered by a Gigabit network; while China is implementing a national broadband mandate, which stipulates 1 Gbps wired and wireless speeds for all.

Conclusion

FCC Chairwoman’s July 15, 2022, Notice of Inquiry is a very strong step in the right direction in updating the U.S. benchmark for determining whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion”. The pandemic has shown that:

1. The current benchmark of 25/3 is insufficient in the age of video conferencing, online education, telemedicine services, etc.
2. Having access to broadband services is not the same as having the ability to afford it.
3. Rural and under-served communities’ broadband needs are still not being met, and they are falling further behind their richer urban community counterparts.
4. The FCC’s calculation of what constitutes “under-served” may need to be recalibrated to better reflect affordability and other qualitative issues, rather than just relying on Form 477.

In addition, the FCC in their consideration in updating the benchmark, should include:

1. The potential hardship (reasonableness) on the broadband industry of moving from an asymmetrical (e.g., 25/3 to 100/20) to a symmetrical (100/100) standard.Moving to symmetrical speeds would dramatically improve user experience, especially as it relates to video conferencing. However, rural ISPs have traditionally delivered their broadband services via asymmetric (xDSL, fixed wireless, satellite) technologies which were never intended to deliver symmetric speeds. If the Government were to mandate that rural ISPs migrate from these legacy technologies to symmetric network services, many could suffer severe financial harm, because of the associated capital costs in rebuilding their networks.
2. Moving beyond the buzz of a 1 Gbps broadband society (research indicates that there is a low correlation between higher societal and economic growth as one moves beyond 100/20 speeds), to a more practical and broader goal of having a larger percentage of the population having not just access to, but the ability to afford 100/20 broadband services. This may mean expanding end-user subsidies to ensure that rural and urban broadband communities have ‘parity”, which was one of the key mandates with the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Lastly, the U.S. Government may want to allocate some of its broadband grant initiatives to xDSL and wireless equipment manufacturers to fund research into expanding the speed and capabilities of their technology to meet the new benchmark standards. These technlogies, for at least the foreseeable future (7-10 years), will still be the most economical way to reach low population density households and communities.

Appendix 1 – What is an FCC Census Block?

According to the U.S. Census Bureau,¹¹ a census block is:

Statistical areas bounded by visible features such as roads, streams, and railroad tracks, and by non-visible boundaries such as property lines, city, township, school district, county limits and short line-of-sight extensions of roads.

The building blocks for all geographic boundaries the Census Bureau tabulates data for, such as tracts, places, and American Indian Reservations.

Generally small in area, within a city, a census block looks like a city block bounded on all sides by streets. Census blocks in suburban and rural areas may be large, irregular, and bounded by a variety of features, such as roads, streams, and transmission lines. In remote areas, census blocks may encompass hundreds of square miles.

Numbered uniquely with a four-digit census block number ranging from 0000 to 9999 nesting within each census tract, which nest within state and county. The first digit of the census block number identifies the block group. Block numbers beginning with a zero (in Block Group 0) are associated with water-only areas.

Delineated by the U.S. Census Bureau once every ten years. An automated computer process looks for all visible and nonvisible features in our geographic database (MAF/TIGER) that should be a block boundary and creates a block each time those features create a polygon.

The smallest level of geography you can get basic demographic data for, such as total population by age, sex, and race.

Census blocks are not:

Delineated based on population. In fact, many census blocks do not have any population.

They may be split when a change in another geographic boundary occurs, such as an incorporated place annexation. If a block is split in between decades, a suffix will be added to the block number. For example, block 1000 would become block 1000A and 1000B.

A boundary that can be used with American Community Survey (ACS) data. ACS data only go down to the block group level.

Appendix 2 – How much Internet speed do you need?

To better understand why current national broadband standards may be insufficient to meet the needs of consumers, it helps know how much Internet speed does the average consumer or household need:

Based on the usage, most consumers need at least 25 Mbps, while the average household (2.5 people) would need at least 100 Mbps to ensure that they don’t suffer from slowdowns or buffering.

Reference

1. FCC’s Rosenworcel proposes ‘100/20’ as new broadband minimum requirement,
   www.firecetelecom, July 18, 2022
2. Broadband Infrastructure Funding and the Digital Divide: Prioritizing People Over Miles, https://sites.tufts.edu/digitalplanet/broadband-infrastructure-funding-and-the-digital-divide-prioritizing-people-over-miles/, 2021
3. Raising the Minimum Fixed Broadband Speed Benchmark: Background and Selected Issues, Congressional Research Service, July 12, 2021
4. The FCC Definition of Broadband: Analysis and History, www.broadbandnow.com, November 2, 2021
5. BROADBAND AVAILABILITY UPDATE: NEW FCC DATA FOR DECEMBER 2020, Technology Policy Institute, November 3, 2021
6. BROADBAND AVAILABILITY UPDATE: NEW FCC DATA FOR DECEMBER 2020, Technology Policy Institute, November 3, 2021
7. Broadband Infrastructure Funding and the Digital Divide: Prioritizing People Over Miles, 2022
8. High-Speed Internet for Business and the Economic Impact, https://blog.tdsbusiness.com/, January 28, 2021
9. NEW DELOITTE STUDY EXPLORES THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF BROADBAND, www.connectednation.org, June 10, 2021
10. The benefits and costs of broadband expansion, August 18 2021
11. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2011/07/what-are-census-blocks.html

About the Author

Rob Klein is Vice President, Fibre Business Strategy at PomeGran Inc. (www.pomegran.io) whose mission is to become the dominant fibre-centric broadband service provider serving under-served residential, enterprise and government customers in rural and under-served communities across Eastern Canada and the Northeast United States. PomeGran wants to ensure that No One is Left Behind, a mantra that reflects our core values of social responsibility.

Prior to joining PomeGran, Rob held various senior executive positions in Canadian/U.S. private and public telecommunications and technology companies. Rob was part of the executive team that helped Globalive launch Wind Mobile (Freedom Mobile) in 2008, and helped co-found the Application Service Provider (precursor to SaaS and Cloud computing) industry in the late 1990’s. In addition, Rob has authored two case studies for the Blockchain Research Institute.

Canquest is Platinum Winner in Internet Service Providers Category by CommunityVotes Chatham-Kent 2022

 Chatham, ON, CANADA and Toronto, ON, CANADA (September 13, 2022) – PomeGran Inc., a leading owner and operator of fibre and fixed wireless rural broadband networks across Canada, under the brands of IceNet Wireless, CochraneTel, Digicom and Canquest Communications, is pleased to announce that Canquest Communications has been named the 2022 Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) Platinum Winner by CommunityVotes Chatham-Kent 2022, beating out larger well-known regional and national ISPs.

This year’s campaign hosted thousands of nominations and votes cast by residents of the county of Chatham-Kent. An astounding number of businesses and people were nominated, but only the top 10 nominees in each category moved on to voting.

“Our Team goal at Canquest is to provide quality services to our customers at a reasonable price, and exceptional customer care.  Winning this award has proven that we are reaching our goals,” said Nicole Mihalco, Director of Operations, Canquest Communications.

“We are very proud of our Canquest team for being recognized by the community for their exceptional customer service,” said Kalai S. Kalaichelvan, CEO of Canquest Communications and Chairman of PomeGran Inc. “In this marketplace, we are showing that locally operated ISPs with an extreme focus on customer service and satisfaction are the key to building and growing our businesses, and we want to thank Nicole and her team for this well-deserved recognition,” he concluded.

Canquest Communications (Online) Inc. (www.canquest.com) is part of the PomeGran group of companies (www.pomegran.io).

About CommunityVotes

CommunityVotes has been the leading Community Voting awards platform for media outlets since 2014.

CommunityVotes prides themselves on being an independent and impartial platform that allows the community to be heard.

CommunityVotes’ mission is to provide each community (city, town or association), a place where its members can recognize the outstanding businesses and services that make our lives that much better each day.

CommunityVotes has provided a platform for millions of people to nominate and vote for anything from their favourite place to dine on the weekend, the friendly mechanic who they trust when they are in a bind, or the realtor who helped them move into their perfect home in the right neighbourhood.

Community-driven recognition of local businesses and services provide key insights that can help you make the most of your important purchases and save you time finding the trusted business to get the job done right.

With each nomination and vote, you help make your community a better and more friendly place to live.

 About Canquest Communications

The idea for Canquest was born in 1992 when founder John Smith noticed that there were no phone companies that could provide quality service at an affordable price. Since then, Canquest has grown every year due to the intense commitment the company makes to customers. Canquest is operated by a highly knowledgeable team that brings decades of telecommunications experience to the company.

Canquest provides its customers with reliable, high-speed, secure and affordable Internet and VoIP phone service, as well as maintaining local technical support agents who are available seven days a week.

About PomeGran Inc.

PomeGran Inc., headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, owns and operates fibre and fixed wireless broadband networks across Canada and is an IoT Managed Services Provider that delivers a secure, AI-powered, self-healing platform for Smart Infrastructure. PomeGran, through its EION subsidiary, is a global provider of Broadband Wireless access products that enable effective, economic, and secure wireless high-speed communications solutions.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Nicole Mihalco, Director of Operations
Canquest Communications Inc.
T : 519-351-1565, x2210
E: @canquest.com” nicole@canquest.com
W: www.canquest.com” www.canquest.com

Sumedha Prasad
PomeGran Inc.
C: (437)-286-9630
E: sumedha@eion.com
W:  www.pomegran.io

Berri WiFi 6+ brings complete advanced Home WiFi Mesh solution to your homes and ISPs.

Toronto, ON, CANADA (August 9, 2022) — EION Inc., a leading provider of broadband solutions to Tier I operators, ISPs and enterprises, today announced that it is launching a brand-new product portfolio – Berri WiFi 6+ family of products, targeting ISPs and Enterprises. Traditional WiFi 6 consumer products provide individual wall-to-wall home coverage, but Berri WiFi 6+ has the extended capability of enabling ISPs to manage multiple homes, with each home having yard-to-yard WiFi coverage, both indoor and outdoor capabilities. By using Berri solutions, ISPs can now become WiFi Managed Service providers. Their customers don’t have to invest in upfront equipment, and, at the same time, ISPs can generate recurring revenue, increasing their ARPU.

“I’m excited about the release of our new consumer-centric suite of products for ISPs,” stated Dr. Kalai S. Kalaichelvan, CEO, EION. “This will have a significant impact for our group companies as well as for ISPs that are looking to remain ahead-of-the-curve, by providing cutting edge technology products to their customers, while at the same time increasing their ARPU,” he concluded.

Berri WiFI 6+ includes: Berri 6 Mesh Router- WiFi 6 AX1800 dual-band Smart Mesh Router, cuBITS – Whole Home WiFi Mesh System, and MosaiQ Mesh – Complete Management and Reporting Platform for this Mesh system. The latest WiFi 6 technology provides 4X greater scalability, reduced interference and improved security; 3X faster performance, and is highly responsive with lower latency. This provides a complete home WiFi management solution for ISPs, enabling them to provide the most advanced technology solutions to their customers, with extended and optimized mesh coverage, throughout their homes and offices. Simultaneously, the network monitoring and management of the solution for ISPs’ NOCs is seamless, with the MosaiQ Mesh management and reporting platform.

“The new Berri product line will be a game changer for Digicom and other broadband service providers that want to make sure that their customers have access to the same technologies as customers in large urban centres,“ said Christine Marion, Vice President, Digicom. “The timing of Berri WiFi 6 products is perfect for Digicom, as we are rolling out a large Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) network in Quebec, funded by the Government of Quebec under the Éclair III Program. This will enable our customers to get yard-to-yard WiFi coverage, complementing their FTTH. We are very pleased to place a large initial order with EION for all the Berri products,” concluded Ms. Marion.

The Berri 6 Mesh Router system is suitable for various building types, and signals can pass through walls and travel further than previous technologies, optimizing wireless network coverage.  The powerful CPU handles multiple complex tasks and demanding applications with ease, allowing more users to connect to the network at the same time. MU-MiMO technology allows an access point to transmit data to multiple client devices simultaneously.

Berri cuBITS mesh kits ensure every corner of your home or business is covered with no dead zones. They are smart and simple, connect seamlessly with routers and extenders using the latest mesh technology, and provide enhanced WiFi coverage. Berri cuBITS mesh kits are dual-band, with speeds up to 1.7 Gbps (5GHz) and up to 300 Mbps (2.4 Gbps). They are equipped with the patented Taplink technology, enabling your phone to get connected once it touches the kit.

MosaiQ Mesh is a comprehensive platform for building, managing and supporting the entire Berri device life-cycle – from initial installation to full-service provisioning and ongoing maintenance and support activities.

MosaiQ Mesh is scalable for any network size and can be deployed gradually in accordance with network requirements. The MosaiQ Mesh platform enables provisioning, monitoring and maintenance for all Berri products.

EION Inc. (www.eionwireless.com) is part of the PomeGran group of companies (www.pomegran.io).

About EION Wireless

EION Wireless, headquartered in Ottawa, ON Canada, is a global provider of Broadband Wireless Access products that enable effective, economic and secure wireless high-speed communications solutions. Formed in 2001, EION is a global provider of 4G Mobile LTE solutions, and high-speed broadband wireless products. With Global Customer Support Operations in India, and multiple regional sales offices around the globe, EION Wireless works with more than 165 worldwide channel partners to support some of the largest 4G deployments in the world.

www.eionwireless.com

About PomeGran Inc.

PomeGran Inc., headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, owns and operates fibre and fixed wireless broadband networks across Canada and is an IoT Managed Services Provider that delivers a secure, AI-powered, self-healing platform for Smart Infrastructure. PomeGran, through its EION subsidiary, is a global provider of Broadband Wireless access products that enable effective, economic, and secure wireless high-speed communications solutions.

www.pomegran.io

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Sumedha Prasad
PomeGran Inc.
C: 1-844-423-6384; x406
E:  sumedha@eion.com
W: www.eionwireless.com
W:  www.pomegran.io

Cochrane, ON, CANADA (July 26, 2022) – CochraneTel is pleased to announce that it has received student funding from both the Canada Summer Jobs Program as well as the Apatisiwin Youth Program. Both initiatives are aimed at supporting youth employment and skills strategy for young workers. As a result, CochraneTel has employed three students for the 2022 season, to provide mentorship and training in the Telecommunications field, in both the technical and administrative domains.

Mackenzie Parent is starting her third year at Nipissing University in North Bay. She is in the Concurrent Education program, majoring in Child and Family Studies. Mackenzie is a returning student who has been assisting CochraneTel’s administrative team.

Jillian Malherbe is starting her third year at Queen’s University in Kingston. She is in the Bachelor of Applied Science program, majoring in Electrical Engineering. Jillian is also a returning student who has been assisting CochraneTel’s technicians.

Seamus O’Connor will be starting his first year at Northern College in Timmins. His field of study is to become an Electrical Technician. Seamus will also be assisting CochraneTel’s technicians over the summer.

“We are quite proud to have such talented students working for our company,” Christine Marion, Chief Operating Officer, CochraneTel stated. “CochraneTel is an advocate of providing our local youth with meaningful work experiences and skills development,” she concluded.

Please visit CochraneTel’s website at https://cochranetel.ca/ to learn more about our services.

CochraneTel is part of the PomeGran group of companies (www.pomegran.io).

                                                                    

About Cochrane Telecom Services Inc.

CochraneTel was founded in 1921 under the Public Utilities Commission, to provide electricity, water and sewer and telephone services to the community of Cochrane. With the introduction of competition in the electricity market and the disbanding of Commissions across the province, Cochrane Telecom Services (CTS) was formed in 2003, to continue providing telecommunications to the community. In 1994 internet was introduced to Cochrane, which has become one of our primary sources of revenue.

In 2015, CochraneTel pursued the implementation of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), a television service offered through the same copper and fibre cables that transport all our services.

CochraneTel looks forward to delivering ever improving services to all the people of Cochrane, both in the rural and urban communities, for another 100 years to come.

About EION Wireless

EION Wireless, headquartered in Ottawa, ON Canada, is a global provider of Broadband Wireless Access products that enable effective, economic and secure wireless high-speed communications solutions. Formed in 2001, EION is a global provider of 4G Mobile LTE solutions, and high-speed broadband wireless products. With Global Customer Support Operations in India, and multiple regional sales offices around the globe, EION Wireless works with more than 165 worldwide channel partners to support some of the largest 4G deployments in the world. EION Wireless has established over 50 Gold partners globally. EION channel partners support various enterprise sectors such as Oil & Gas, WISP, Government Institutions, Mining, and Public Safety & Security. EION products are sold to Tier I and II Service Providers directly.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Roxanne DesRoches
Cochrane Telecom Services Inc.
C: 705-272-4232
E: roxanne.desroches@cochranetel.ca
W: www.cochranetel.ca

Sumedha Prasad
PomeGran Inc.
T: 1-844-423-6384; x406
E:  sumedha@eion.com
W: www.eionwireless.com
W:  www.pomegran.io

Upgraded system will save residents 40% on monthly phone bills.

Chatham, ON, CANADA and Toronto, ON, CANADA (July 12, 2022) – PomeGran Inc., a leading owner and operator of fibre and fixed wireless rural broadband networks across Canada, under the brands of Canquest Communications, IceNet Wireless, CochraneTel and Digicom, is pleased to announce that Canquest Communications was awarded a contract to provide Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) services to resident of the Riverview Gardens Long-Term Care (Riverview Gardens) facility.

Riverview Gardens is a non-profit long-term care home to 320 residents. Riverview Gardens has a long history of providing exceptional care to the community members of Chatham-Kent and beyond. They aspire to provide all members of the community, including team members, with an inspiring experience.

“The COVID pandemic has repeatedly demonstrated the need for good, reliable internet and phone services, especially for our elderly citizens, who face isolation if they don’t have connectivity,” said Nicole Mihalco, Director, Operations, Canquest Communications. “We are honoured that we have been awarded this five-year contract to replace their aging phone system with our state-of the-art VOIP system. This system provides the latest features including free call display, voice mail, call waiting and call forwarding, and, most importantly, residents can keep their existing phone number,” she concluded.

Mary Alice Searles, Director of Seniors Services at Riverview Gardens said: “We are pleased to have Canquest on board providing affordable phone services for our residents at Riverview Gardens and we look forward to the partnership.  We love that our new residents will be able to bring their home phone numbers with them to help them when come to Riverview, as it will help them stay connected with friends and family.”

“When we founded Canquest Communications 30 (thirty) years ago, our goal was simple, to provide the best internet service to our local community, and to give back as much as possible,” said John Smith, founder of Canquest Communications.

Canquest Communications (www.canquest.com) is part of the PomeGran group of companies (www.pomegran.io).

About Canquest Communications

The idea for Canquest was born in 1992 when founder John Smith noticed that there were no phone companies that could provide quality service at an affordable price. Since then, Canquest has grown every year due to the intense commitment the company makes to customers. Canquest is operated by a highly knowledgeable team that brings decades of telecommunications experience to the company. Canquest provides its customers with reliable, high-speed, secure and affordable Internet and VoIP phone service, as well as maintaining local technical support agents who are available seven  days a week.
www.canquest.com

About PomeGran Inc.

PomeGran Inc., headquartered in Toronto, ON, Canada, owns and operates fibre and fixed wireless broadband networks across Canada and is an IoT Managed Services Provider that delivers a secure, AI-powered, self-healing platform for Smart Infrastructure. PomeGran, through its EION subsidiary, is a global provider of Broadband Wireless access products that enable effective, economic, and secure wireless high-speed communications solutions.
www.pomegran.io

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Nicole Mihalco
Canquest Communications Inc.
T: 519-351-1565 Ext. 2210
E: nmihalco@canquest.com
W: www.canquest.com

Sumedha Prasad
PomeGran Inc.
T: 1-844-423-6384; x406
E:  sumedha@eion.com
W: www.eionwireless.com
W:  www.pomegran.io