Friday the 13th marks an appropriate day for Cybera to announce the 13th major price decrease for the Internet Buying Group since its launch in 2012. As of January 1, 2020, the price of bandwidth for Group members will go down from $1.50 per Mbps to $1.35 per Mbps, a 10% drop.
The Internet Buying Group was created to address the skyrocketing bandwidth costs faced by K-12 and post-secondary institutions across Alberta. Its original price in 2012 — $14.50 per Mbps — was a dramatic improvement for many of these organizations, some of whom were paying up to $150 per Mbps for internet.
Since 2012, the Internet Buying Group (combined with Cybera’s Peering service) has saved member organizations over $12 million in network costs.
“With all the recent news about budget restrictions and belt-tightening in the province, the need for Albertans to come together, leverage economies of scale, and support each other has become more important than ever,” says Cybera president and CEO, Barb Carra. “We are happy to utilize Cybera’s expertise, and access to our shared network infrastructure and purchasing program, to secure a better internet rate for our members. It’s also nice to offer Alberta’s public and education sectors something to cheer about as they head into the holidays!”
As well as providing valuable cost savings, the buying group offers other valuable benefits, such as the ability to join Cybera’s shared Virtual Firewall Service, and access to free bandwidth traffic over IPv6.
The Internet Buying Group is also set up to be flexible and responsive to members’ needs, allowing them to adjust their bandwidth requirements on a month-to-month basis. This allows educators to stay ahead of the fluctuating demand for internet throughout the year.
To find out more about Cybera’s networking services, including the Internet Buying Group, visit the company’s CyberaNet Overview page.