The first upgrade stage will be the installation of new equipment which requires the modem number change. Our current modem number will be phased out. It will remain available for a few days only.

The use of PPP (graphical access) by those who wish to sign up will be stage two. We will announce this in the Fall (Sept).

The Board of the Victoria Telecommunity Network has been planning some major changes.

For some time now we have been wanting to upgrade VTN to make it more reliable and functional.

Also, we are now planning to offer full PPP (Point to Point Protocol) access, for an additional charge, to any of our users that want it. We have no intention, however, of abandoning our current text only dial up service. We expect this new service to be available later this year.

This change will require a major equipment upgrade. When that equipment is in place, users signing up for the new service will be able to make a full graphical connection to our system. This will enable them, as long as they have the appropriate Web browser software such as Netscape or Internet Explorer on their personal computers, to receive all the pictures and sounds that now accompany so many Web pages. It will also allow files to be transferred more easily from the VTN system to home computers - no more fighting with "kermit" and "zmodem!"

Besides the new graphical access we will continue to offer our current text access. It will be unchanged except that connections at speeds up to 56K will be possible. Further, we expect an improvement in reliability. It seems to be generally agreed that connections are more reliable using digital technology.

We are currently considering a charge of $100 a year for PPP access. You will have a guaranteed minimum of one hour of connect time per 24 hour period for any one account. Subsequent text dial up connections from the same account will not be affected. Our 10Mbps Internet connection should provide good throughput. Our volunteer staff will be happy to assist you with the required changes to your software.

Please let us know your reaction to our plans, they are still under development.
Send e-mail to ppp@victoria.tc.ca for questions, comments or to sign up.

I would like to thank all of our loyal supporters. This represents a major upgrade to the Victoria Telecommunity Network, one of the most significant improvements since we first started serving the public on November 17th, 1992.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the BC Gaming Commission.

Gareth R. Shearman
President
Victoria Telecommunity Network