Xplornet


Xplornet Communications Inc. is a Canadian rural internet service provider and mobile network operator. It is the largest rural fixed wireless broadband service provider in the country. It is headquartered at Woodstock, New Brunswick.

History

Xplornet was founded in 2004 under the name Barrett XPlore.
In April 2012, Xplornet entered into a partnership with Shaw Communications to market bundles of its Shaw Direct satellite television service with Xplornet internet service.
In 2014, the company purchased capacity on ViaSat-2 and EchoStar XIX as part of a plan to expand its service area to all of Canada by 2017.
In January 2017, Xplornet acquired the Saskatoon-based competitor YourLink.
In November 2017, Xplornet acquired Manitoba-based fixed wireless provider Netset Communications. With the deal Xplornet retained the Netset brand and Netset continues to operate out of Brandon Manitoba as a separate division of Xplornet.

Services

Xplornet provides fixed wireless internet access to remote areas through a combination of satellite internet as well as LTE and WiMAX fixed wireless networks. It owns part of the lifetime capacity of ViaSat-2 and is expanding its 4G network. These networks support approximately 250,000 subscribers, the largest number of rural Canadian subscribers of any company as of 2017.

Xplore Mobile

On February 16, 2017, Bell announced that as part of its acquisition of Manitoba Telecom Services, it would divest a portion of its wireless subscribers to Xplornet. The divestment is a condition of the deal intended to preserve the presence of four major wireless carriers in Manitoba post-merger. Xplornet will receive 24,700 MTS subscribers, as well as 6 retail locations, and wireless spectrum. Bell entered into agreements with Xplornet to provide tower access, roaming, and devices for a period of time while it establishes its new mobile network.
The new Xplore Mobile brand was announced August 1, 2018. The company promoted that its wireless services would be "built on the values of fairness, simplicity and transparency".