Barrett Xplore Inc. has taken another small step forward in its bid to become a national rural broadband Internet provider. It announced today that it has added another 550 residential and business customers in Ontario through its acquisition of W3 Connex, which was placed into receivership in April. The purchase gives Barrett two wireless networks in Prince Edward County and South Dundas in southwestern Ontario. Last month, Barrett acquired 3.5 GHz WiMAX spectrum from Mipps Inc., which Barrett CEO John Maduri said will enable them to improve service in reliability for W3 Connex customers. While Barrett now has the spectrum to serve four million rural Canadians, the company is still looking to acquire bandwidth in Atlantic Canada to fill in the gaps in what could be a national rural wireless network.