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First Sales Deals in US & Canada

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Taber Outdoor WiFi

New Wireless Broadband Technology Breaks the Mold of Traditional Internet Access

NEWS RELEASE

CALGARY, AB, June 13, 2018 – June 20 is World WiFi day, and Calgary-based Mage Networks Inc. is celebrating the successful commercialization of its breakthrough WiFi technology, MagiNet™, that it believes will change how high-speed internet broadband is deployed around the world,

Following a successful first installation and 2-month pilot in Taber, Alberta, Mage Networks is proud to announce that it has now inked its first two sales contracts, one in Brazeau County, Alberta, and the other for the City of Cape Coral in Florida, which are shipping in the next two weeks.

Mage’s new technology shifts the paradigm of wireless internet delivery. In traditional, tower-based networks, a signal is transmitted from a tower in a straight line. But terrain or objects in the way of the signal creates no-service areas where the tower cannot “see.” Most of the world’s research and development in the field, such as hot air balloons, satellites, and drones, all attempt to get higher to improve coverage. In contrast, MagiNet™ travels low, using wireless “data pipelines” over several small “hops” to carry broadband coverage over and behind hills or through trees, using tiny nodes (about the size of an iPad) placed only 3 – 5 meters from the ground. This method can overcome any rough terrain, trees and long distances without losing speed or signal strength as the wireless “pipeline” travels further distances.

Dr. Sayed Amr (Sisso) El-Hamamsy, founder of Mage Networks says, “We want to show how our system – at 1/3 to 1/20 the cost of traditional methods – can be installed in hours or a couple of days, and can give consistent performance of up to 50 Mbps upload or download speeds.” A veteran of the telecommunications sector with over 40 patents in his career, El-Hamamsy says, “We’re preparing for aggressive growth and getting processes in place to sell our equipment to internet service providers, states, and municipalities around the world.”

Mage is currently bidding on several deployments around Canada, the US and the Carribbean where live demonstrations of the technology have already been provided to local infrastructure buyers.

“It’s so easy and affordable for remote communities to have this technology,” adds El-Hamamsy. “There’s nothing like it out there now and it’s a technology with limitless potential. It can give hope to remote areas around the world that could otherwise not afford high speed broadband. And in time, it should mean a lot less construction of unsightly cellular towers.”

 

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Media Contact: Dominic Terry Communications at 403.615.0372 or dominic.terry@dominicterrycommunications.com

Interview Contacts:
Mage Networks, CEO: Dr. Sayed-Amr (Sisso) El-Hamamsy, (403) 616-5441 or info@mage-networks.com
Brazeau County, Reeve: Bart Guyon (780) 542-0999
Town of Taber, Communications: Meghan Brennan (403) 634-9824

 

Digital Futures & BC Broadband Conference

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Lots has been happening here at Mage!  April 25 & 26, Sisso attended the Digital Futures Alberta conference in Pincher Creek and made many excellent connections with communities all around Alberta who really need upgrades to their broadband speed  – in short order!  We’re working on getting back to everyone there, and once we get maps of desired coverage areas, we’ll reply with network designs and quotations.

Sisso and Jacqueline also attended the BC Broadband Association Conference in Richmond BC last week (May 1 – 2).  This conference allowed us to reconnect with many of the Wireless Internet Service Providers we’d met through CanWisp and meet many new ones as well.  Sisso spoke on day two, and one excellent bonus was that Tim Ryan, of Kaslo Infonet Society, also got up to say a few words on Mage’s behalf, regarding his experience with the field test we ran there in early April.  Tim’s message was that Mage’s equipment would be a very useful additional “tool in the toolkit” for internet service providers,  since it can affordably reach homeowners that would be not economical otherwise, and that he was planning to deploy Mage’s equipment in various areas across the Kaslo valley this summer.  Thank you Tim!

We are very excited to be rolling out more networks this summer, and we are working to get our network designs/quotations out as fast as we can!  If you’d like to inquire about improving high speed broadband in your area, please contact us today.

Sisso and Simon from National Research Council talk NLOS wireless

Tim Ryan of Kaslo Infonet Society and Sisso speak at BCBC 2018

 

IRAP Funding and BC Broadband Association Conference

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We got some great news today: Mage was granted IRAP (Industrial Research Assistance Program from the National Research Council) funding today to help us hire a new PhD programmer.  This new individual is going to be developing our new network-design software which we will use for designing our wireless data pipelines, i.e. MagiNet™.  Should make our network design process (and hence our quoting process) go much more quickly as it becomes functional.

Also, we’ll be heading to Richmond BC to participate and speak at the BC Broadband Association (BCBA) on May 1 – 2.  We look forward to seeing, meeting, and supporting our many friends in the rural broadband market!

Revisiting Forgotten Homeowners

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A speaker giving a presentation at CanWISP

Hello Folks!

We had a great visit at the CanWisp conference last month, and it got us thinking about the perspective of the Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs).  These folks are typically very technical, and yet also quite creative individuals, especially when it comes to problem solving.  We noticed that most have strong IT and hardware backgrounds, and found their way into the rural wireless broadband market often out of pure necessity; let’s face it, if they’re still in business today, serving rural homeowners with wireless broadband, given all the changes in technology over the years, they really know their stuff.  Several have even given us some new ideas we can use to improve our deployments!

One other interesting factor: they also seem to generally get along well with each other, and see themselves as all being in the same, quite challenging, boat.  The result of this is some degree of respecting each others’ territories.

So this is where things get interesting with Mage, as we present a new kind of technology that WISPs can employ to reach rural areas. How does a WISP grow its business, ideally without competing too directly with a fellow WISP?  Mage has a solution.

It seems most WISPs have a “NO” file.  This is a database of customers that they have not been able to service, or service well.  These are forgotten or rejected homeowners – homeowners that are in their area or near their areas of service, but are in tough terrain or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) areas that are simply too expensive to reach with either fiber or construction of new towers. They are people that have been told, “Sorry, your location is too difficult and expensive to reach, we can’t help you.”

Surprisingly, with trees and ridges, there are about 13 Million such households all over North America.  Every WISP likely has a file of a few dozen or a few hundred customers to whom it has had to say “NO”.

So to the WISPs we say – grab the opportunity to grow your business! Try our equipment – it’s inexpensive, fast to deploy, and will give you brand new customers in all those tough areas.  There’s no big capital investment – you can simply buy enough units to service as few as 5 or 10 customers in a given pocket, and get them up and running.  Send us a map of any areas you have in mind, and we’re happy to provide a free network design and quotation.

You’ve got nothing to lose, and so much to gain!

 

 

 

Kaslo Terrain Test

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It’s been a very busy past few weeks, and we wanted to let you know we ran another terrain test, this time with the toughest terrain we’ve seen yet, in Kaslo BC.

The Internet Service Provider there, Kaslo InfoNet Board (KIN), headed up by Tim Ryan, had been quite skeptical of the system before seeing it run for himself.  In addition to being a director of KIN and a member of its Technical Services Committee, Tim also sits on the BC Broadband Association board.

The main issues in the area are mountains and very thick, mixed-species forest.  There is also a lake to one side of the community and fibre cable has had to be run right through the lake, with towers attempting to fill in many areas, but without good sight lines.

Tim and his two technicians ran the test with us. We started the network at an access point beside Kaslo Community Garden, shooting up and onward past A Avenue.  We shot straight through the trees (and this was the part about which Sisso was most concerned, since it was hard to even gage which direction to aim the nodes at with the terrain!). Regardless of that potential difficulty, MagiNet™ grabbed the signal right away, and we were off to the races.  While we had allowed a whole day for testing, by noon, the guys at KIN were convinced, and we all enjoyed lively discussion over lunch at a local restaurant.  KIN intends to do some planning over the next few weeks to re-work their connectivity model for the area, integrating our technology into all the non line-of-sight (NLOS) areas not easily reachable using fiber or towers.

With the terrain test behind us, we also were able to take the time to enjoy the beautiful Ainsworth Hot Springs that evening, and got quite a charge out of seeing so many wild turkeys on the sides of the road during the drives to and from Ainsworth Hot Springs to Kaslo.

KIN is expecting they will be deploying some of Mage’s technology as soon as July or August 2018.

Stay tuned!

Terrain Test in Kaslo BC NLOS

 

NLOS Wireless Test in Mountains and Forest

Mage Installs First Permanent Network in Taber, Alberta

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Mage is thrilled to announce that as of March 26, 2018, the town of Taber, Alberta has installed a MagiNet™ network in its downtown commercial district. MagiNet™ is providing seamless outdoor high-speed WiFi throughout the zone, meaning shoppers, whether tourists or residents, can access free high-speed internet while walking from store-to-store, without having to log in multiple times or experiencing a drop in the signal.

Taber had been the first to respond when Mage Networks invited towns to apply to receive a free MagiNet™ network. “We needed approved pilot locations immediately, and asked them, ‘how fast can you move on this?'” says Mage’s VP Marketing Jacqueline Drew. “Taber’s memorable reply was, ‘faster than you can!'”

True to its word, Taber was able to get council approval, chamber approval, individual business approval, and an electrical contractor selected for the installation in record time, all while their equipment was on order. The installation itself took only a 2 days.

“Once we get our inventory fully stocked, we’ll be able to deploy quickly enough to promote Maginet™ for short-term use, like sudden disaster or emergency zones, or even large events like outdoor festivals,” says Drew.

Mage will be circling back to visit Taber after its first few weeks of using the system to get feedback from council and merchants in the new WiFi zone. With recent flooding in Taber, the town’s administration has been very busy, but their CAO, Cory Armfelt recently relayed his satisfaction with the system, “We’ve had a bit a crazy week. But wanted to touch base to let you know how much I appreciate this new system being brought into town.”

Taber Outdoor WiFi

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