Quad-Cities Online ISP To Build 4G Network With Nortel Wimax

CHICAGO – Moline Dispatch Publishing Co. (MDPC) will use Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] 4G WiMAX technology to deliver high-speed broadband across western Illinois and eastern Iowa through its Internet service provider (ISP), Quad-Cities Online (QCO). The new WiMAX network will allow QCO to deliver fixed and mobile wireless broadband services to its growing subscriber base of college students and business and residential users in the Quad Cities – Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline/East Moline and Rock Island.


The low cost and high capacity of Nortel’s WiMAX technology will assist QCO in offering a high-speed alternative to DSL and cable Internet. QCO’s network will provide broadband access for a wide range of bandwidth-intensive applications such as VoIP and real-time multimedia communication. The next-generation, high-speed, high-broadband capabilities of Nortel’s WiMAX technology will also help QCO to support broadband requirements in the era of hyperconnectivity, where ever-increasing numbers of devices and applications will be connected to networks.

As well, the mobile capabilities of the 802.16e WiMAX solution will help QCO build a network that subscribers can access on the go. For example, high-speed mobile access may help college students to make more efficient use of study time through the ability to access on-line educational resources and communicate with friends, study partners and professors anywhere, anytime. MDPC journalists may also use the WiMAX network from the field to post news reports in real time.

“WiMAX is an ideal solution for new entrants and innovative Internet service providers like Quad-Cities Online, because it requires minimal infrastructure to establish both fixed and mobile networks,” said Peter MacKinnon, general manager of WiMAX, Nortel. “In the era of hyperconnectivity, anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected. WiMAX makes it possible for service providers – large and small, new and established – to offer network capabilities that are up to the hyperconnectivity challenge.”

“Thanks to an agreement with Black Hawk College which gives us access to wireless spectrum, and Nortel’s expertise in WiMAX, we will be uniquely positioned to satisfy the information and communication needs of the communities we serve for years to come,” said Gerald J. Taylor, publisher, MDPC.

MDPC has long been an early adopter of online services, embracing and enabling the Web experience and connecting it with its news business. The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus were among the first newspapers in the United States to make content available through the Internet, and Quad-Cities Online was an early ISP in the Quad-Cities. Now, with the deployment of WiMAX, MDPC has the capability to change the way it reports the news, pushing the interactive multimedia news experience further through the use of technology.

QCO’s 802.16e WiMAX network will run over 2.5 GHz spectrum available to QCO through a long-term lease of Black Hawk College’s Educational Broadcasting Service (EBS) channels. “This agreement represents an unprecedented alliance between a local educational institution and a commercial Internet service provider to utilize EBS channels for the benefit of the community as a whole,” Taylor and Dr. Keith Miller, president, Black Hawk College, said in a joint statement.

About Quad-Cities Online
Quad-Cities Online is a service of Moline Dispatch Publishing Co. L.L.C., which also publishes daily newspapers The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus, and The Leader, a free-circulation weekly newspaper for the Iowa Quad-Cities. Since 1994, QCO has offered local news, email, Internet access and other services. Local news stories available through Quad-Cities Online are produced by the staffs of the three newspapers and their sister publications, including The Gold Book, Radish, Showcase and MetroEast.

About Black Hawk College
Black Hawk College is a comprehensive community college annually serving 13,000 college-credit students and 7,000 Continuing Education and Workforce Training adults with high-quality, cost-effective lifelong learning. The Quad-Cities Campus is located in Moline, Ill., and the East Campus is near Kewanee, Ill.

About Nortel
Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel’s technologies are designed to help eliminate today’s barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.