(NC)—We are in the information age dominated by an on-demand knowledge society. Canada is one of the most connected countries in the world and the Internet has become so central to our lives that many people can't do their work or stay in touch without it.

In short, today's world demands high-speed Internet access.

And the demand for speed is growing as the Internet becomes an essential part of modern life and new bandwidth-hungry services, applications and devices are rolled out.

But what if you're among the more than 7.5 million Canadians in rural and remote communities who don't have cable or DSL high-speed broadband access? Typically, these areas of the country have been underserved by the simple fact that the economics of a land-based system will never justify mass deployment.

Fortunately, there is a solution for many of these remote residents – a high-speed satellite Internet service offered by Bell ExpressVu's DirecPC. Essentially, the system uses the same Bell ExpressVu satellite dish as the Bell ExpressVu TV service, but works independently from the satellite receiver to deliver data to your computer.

How fast is satellite Internet? DirecPC features download speeds of up to 400 kbps - that's up to seven times faster than a traditional 56k modem.

In every day terms, that means users can download a 4MB audio file in 60-70 seconds compared with over 19 minutes using a 56K modem. Or download a 1MB video file in a little over 16 seconds compared with almost 5 minutes using a 56K modem.

It's a broadband Internet access service that is always on and is available to anyone, anywhere in Canada with a phone line and a local Internet Service Provider.

Without high-speed access, the benefits of these new services are generally restricted to Canadians living in the largest urban areas of the country. DirecPC satellite, however, levels the playing field for those living in remote or rural areas.

DirecPC is available from Bell ExpressVu dealers throughout Canada or by contacting Bell ExpressVu at 1-888-DirecPC (347-3272) or direcpcinfo@expressvu.com. For more information, please visit www.bell.ca/direcpc.

- News Canada

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