Project Chapleau Spotlighted in Nortel E-Seminar
January 03, 2007
On October 26, 2006, the Township of Chapleau was featured in a Nortel e-seminar on
municipal Wi-Fi strategies. Township of Chapleau Treasurer Les Jones took part in the
Municipal Wireless Trends and Real-World Applications webcast, where he discussed
Project Chapleau, one of the first rural wireless network deployments in Canada. The event was
attended by industry professionals from around the world.
The e-seminar began with a presentation by Forrester principal analyst Charles Golvin
discussing the benefits of municipal wireless deployments. He focused on issues such as
bridging the digital divide by making internet services available to those who may not
otherwise be able to afford them, economic development, and security (police report filing over
WiFi, etc.).
In his presentation, Les Jones spoke about the applications and services that have been
provided as part of Project Chapleau, including the Chapleau Community Portal and education
initiatives. As an extension of Project Chapleau, the Diabetes Telemonitoring Trial was
highlighted. The trial, a joint venture between Bell Canada, Nortel and the University Health
Network, uses the wireless capabilities of the Blackberry device to track patients' blood sugar
levels and update healthcare professionals.
Mr. Jones identified some of the key factors in making Project Chapleau a success, such as:
- Providing a local support contact
- Bundling the wireless network with other services (e.g. the Chapleau Community
Portal)
- "Over design" versus "under design"
- Determining the required level of service based on applications chosen to be deployed
- Creating contracts for local access point support (installation, replacement and
maintenance by local energy services company)
To conclude his presentation, Mr. Jones spoke about the factors required for the
sustainability and repeatability of Project Chapleau. He identified factors such as municipal
engagement (identifying stakeholders, creating business model framework, and analyzing
municipal strategy), exploring partnerships or joint ownership, network cost analysis, and
operational and financial objectives.
When asked about his experience, Les Jones said "While preparing for the e-seminar I had
an opportunity to review Project Chapleau activities with Bell and Nortel project team members.
It was readily apparent that our community had become quite knowledgeable in the areas of
broadband applications and WiFi networks. The issues and trends referenced in the Forrester
presentation served to confirm this. As a result of the e-seminar our project received
additional exposure, as evidenced by email enquiries about the project received immediately
after the seminar concluded."
View Nortel's Township of Chapleau Case Study.
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Township of Chapleau
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