SSI Micro - Canadian Services

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: