[December 20, 2004]

Vonage Brings VoIP to Isolated Canadians

BY JOHANNE TORRES

Remote Canadian oil drilling rigs, lighthouses and fishing lodges will now be connected to the outside world with innovative satellite broadband and Internet telephone service thanks to a new partnership between Vonage Canada and Galaxy Broadband Communications—a provider of two-way high-speed Internet access via satellite. According to the deal, Galaxy will make the Vonage service available to its 400 certified reseller partners across Canada.

The two companies will be combining their offerings to provide telecommunication services to areas in Canada that have never been able to communicate outside their location. The technology deployment will enable users in remote or rural locations in Canada to communicate via Internet through satellite, offering Canadians a more affordable, reliable and potentially life-saving link to the world.

Galaxy Broadband provides broadband Internet access through its network of satellites to remote logging camps, oil drilling rigs, fly-in fishing and hunting lodges and any Canadian who is otherwise disconnected because of location. The agreement with Vonage Canada will allow those isolated work locations or homes to connect Vonage's broadband phone service to the high-speed network, ensuring reliable communications to company headquarters, family and friends.

"Our customers are traditionally beyond the reach of land-based, high-speed Internet access," said Rick Hodgkinson, president and CEO of Galaxy Broadband. "Communications is often very spotty with our remote customers, with little or no cellular phone coverage, where people literally have to climb the nearest hilltops to try and get a signal. Reliable connections are critical to many remote operations like drilling rigs in the middle of nowhere, in case of emergency or other safety considerations. Vonage's service piggybacks on Galaxy's high-speed connection so remote workers and homeowners have an instant, reliable link to the outside world, and at a significantly less cost than cellular or satellite telephone service."

Remote Canadian homeowners, branch operations and small business owners will now be able to choose an area code from 14 major centers in six provinces, including Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. Customers can also obtain a secondary "virtual" number from any available area code in Canada and the U.S. served by Vonage. International virtual numbers will also be available from Mexico and the U.K.

"Voice over IP brings communications to people who would otherwise be disconnected from the world," said Bill Rainey, president, Vonage Canada. "The simplicity of Vonage's service allows any remote homeowner or business with high-speed access to bridge the distance gap and take advantage of this breakthrough technology that is changing the way Canadians make and receive phone calls."

Vonage Canada
www.vonage.ca

Galaxy Broadband
www.galaxybroadband.ca