SSI Micro

Infobox Company
name = SSI Micro Ltd.

type = Private
foundation = 1990 in Fort Providence
founder = Jeffrey Philipp
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industry = Telecommunication
products =
services = Internet access (broadband, satellite)
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slogan = "People, Ideas, Technology"
homepage = [http://www.ssimicro.com www.ssimicro.com]
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SSI Micro Ltd. is a Canadian wireless broadband internet service provider primarily serving remote areas that lack terrestrial service options. SSI Micro was established in 1990 by Jeffrey Philipp and is headquartered in Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories. SSI Micro is also a provider of Satellite Communication services, offered in locations that do not have terrestrial service options. They offer turnkey Internet systems to other ISPs. They have a local market serving 60 locations in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. These two territories account for 1/3 of Canada’s landmass covering convert|3439296|km2|sqmi|abbr=on. They also have an international market including Africa, Indonesia and Kiribati.

SSI Micro uses the Motorola Expedience [ [http://www.motorola.com/expedience/ Expedience Point-to-Multipoint Solutions] ] line of product to deliver licensed broadband Internet services. This service is transmitted over a licensed spectrum of 2.5-2.6 GHz in Canada. The Expedience system consist of base stations that deliver a wireless signal throughout the community, and of residential subscriber units (or RSUs) that are provided to customers and which receive the signal from the base stations.

History

SSI Micro was founded in 1990 in Fort Providence. They provided businesses with a fully equipped sales, training and technical service center along with computer sales and repairs. At this time SSI Micro became the 13th division of a much larger group of companies operated by the Philipp family since 1965. This group of companies offered a vast range of services and employment opportunity in the community of Fort Providence, including the Snowshoe Inn, coffee shop and gift shop. For many years the company also operated the ferry that provides the only road access from Southern Canada to the Northwest Territories.

SSI Micro was one of the first Internet Service Providers (ISP's) in Northern Canada. They opened a branch in Yellowknife in 1995.

Canadian Services

SSI Micro is the largest Internet service provide in Northern Canada. This company offers services in about 60 communities in Northern Canada. They offer broadband services under three brands. Qiniq (Nunavut), AirWare (Northwest Territories) and SkyLine (Yellowknife). Their service is stated to be portable and customers can roam within all 60 of the Northern communities that SSI Micro serves.

As of February 2008, SSI Micro is the largest ISP in Northern Canada providing broadband Internet services in all 25 Nunavut Communities, and in 31 Communities throughout the Northwest Territories.

SSI Micro often uses the slogan "Connecting the North" as their advertising slogan.

In March 2004, SSI Micro launched the first commercial Canadian implementation of 2.5 GHz NLOS (non line of sight) wireless broadband Internet service. The network names Skyline provides residential and corporate users in Yellowknife with access to high speed, nomadic broadband access.

Industry Canada’s Broadband for Rural and Northern Development (BRAND) program became the catalyst for the creation of Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation (NBDC), a not for profit group tasked with identifying the Nunavut's broadband needs. At this time, outside of government worker connections in the 11 largest communities, Internet was not readily available to Nunavut residents.

NBDC issued a comprehensive Request for Proposal (RFP) to vendors and put the financing together for building a network to serve the needs of the People of Nunavut. SSI Micro won this RFP in the spring of 2004. As a result of winning this RFP, SSI Micro designed & deployed the Qiniq network

In 2005, SSI Micro officially launched the Qiniq network. This network provides broadband services to all 25 communities in Nunavut. Inuit comprise 85% of the population of Nunavut and are avid users of broadband services. Broadband is used to improve the educational, economic, social and cultural opportunities in the territory. Many e-commerce and informational web sites are now readily available online from businesses based in Nunavut.

The Qiniq network is managed centrally by SSI Micro out of their head office in Yellowknife. SSI Micro maintains the satellite infrastructure, the wireless networks, all back-end hardware as well as the billing and management.

SSI Micro does not sell to end users directly. Qiniq services are offered in each Nunavut community by a local resident, which are referred to as community service providers, or "CSP". In each community there is a local resident who is trained and contracted to provide services in their respective community. The CSPs sign up users, take payments and provide technical support to their clients. CSPs deal with SSI Micro in Yellowknife directly for their training and support. CSPs provide Qiniq clients the ability to deal with someone local, typically a long-time Northern resident who understands the culture and language of their community.

SSI Micro offers services in the following communities in Nunavut, under the brand name Qiniq:

In 2006, SSI Micro Launched the AirWare network. This network is similar in design to the Qiniq network and provides Broadband Services to 30 communities in the Northwest Territoriesa. The AirWare network also has a local representative in each of the communities that takes payments and provides technical support to their local clients. As with the Qiniq network, the CSPs provide AirWare clients the ability to deal with someone local, typically a long-time Northern resident who understands the culture and language of their community.

SSI Micro offers services in the following communities in the Northwest Territories, under the brand name AirWare:

International services

* New Years Eve 2004, SSI Micro worked with the Global Development Group to deploy a mobile broadcast system in Banda Aceh and Jakarta to assist emergency relief in Indonesia. Satellite networks were deployed in both Banda Aceh and Jakarta to enable relief workers and other Non-governmental organizations (NGO's) to access the Internet and utilize Voice over Internet Protocol technologies in order to improve communications with the rest of the world, and to assist with coordination of aid within the country.
* In 2005, SSI Micro supplied a turn-key ISP system in Kiribati for Telecom Services Kiribati Limited [ [http://www.tskl.net.ki TSKL Website] ] (TSKL). Kiribati is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean straddling the equator. Kiribati resides on 33 atolls dispersed over convert|3500000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on. Services were installed in the three largest centers, Betio, Bairiki, and Bikenibeu.

Awards and highlights

* SSI Micro in a joint venture with the NWT Power Corporation won the Next Generation Solution Award at the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA) in 2000. [ [http://www.cipa.com/ Canadian Information Productivity Awards] ] This satellite network was the first of its kind to be built in Canada and fifth in the World.
* SSI Micro's Qiniq Network was awarded at the Wireless Communications Association International (WCA) for provisioning underserved communities with NLOS broadband wireless technology in 2005. [ [http://www.wcai.com/ Wireless Communications Association International] ]
* SSI Micro was the first company in Canada to launch a Wireless NLOS Broadband Network.
* In 2006 SSI Micro's Qiniq network was named "Business of the Year" by the Baffin Chamber of Commerce at the Nunavut Business Achievement Awards. [ [http://www.baffinchamber.ca/ Baffin Chamber of Commerce] ]
* In 2005 SSI Micro's QINIQ network was designated as an "Intelligent Community" by the Intelligent Community Forum, a New York City based think tank. [ [http://www.intelligentcommunity.org/ Intelligent Community Forum] ]

ponsorships

SSI Micro is listed as a sponsor for several local non profit associations.
* Folk on the Rocks - Yellowknife's Annual Music Festival [ [http://www.folkontherocks.com Folk on the Rocks] ]
* Yellowknife Montessori School - Alternative Education [ [http://ykmontessori.ca Yellowknife Montessori School] ]
* NWT Amateur Speed Skating Association [ [http://www.nwtspeedskating.ca NWT Amateur Speed Skating Association] ] >

References

* [http://www.qiniq.com/?page_id=4 About QINIQ]
* [http://www.qiniq.com/?page_id=5 Broadband for Nunavut: From Vision to Reality]
* [http://www.ssimicro.com/Qiniq_Satellite_Network_ISP QINIQ – Satellite Network / ISP]
* [http://www.ssimicro.com/SSI-History+ SSI History]
* [http://www.nunavut-broadband.ca Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation]
* [http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/ip-pi/csif-fcis/news-nouvelles/2005/20050526rankininlet_e.shtml Nunavut Launches The “ Largest, Coolest Hot Spot on Earth ”]
* [http://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/ip-pi/csif-fcis/news-nouvelles/2005/20051124yellowknife_e.shtml Infrastructure Agreement Providing Greater Broadband Access in the Northwest Territories]

External links

* [http://www.ssimicro.com SSI Micro Official Site]
* [http://www.qiniq.com QINIQ Official Site]
* [http://www.airware.ca AirWare Official Site]