High Speed Internet Update
Unfortunately, the areas of Tiny Township that have long suffered with slow dial-up internet service will have to suffer for a while yet.
Despite receiving an on-line petition signed by over 1000 households, neither Bell nor Rogers have as yet expanded their service. But some residents have seen vans making measurements along some of our roads, maybe eventually…….!
Bell recently stated that they will be upgrading three “facilities” in Tiny in 2008-09.
Apparently there will be one in Bluewater Beach and two in Lafontaine.
Meanwhile, Tiny Council has charged its Treasurer, Doug Taylor, “to develop a strategy to successfully lobby internet service providers by June 08 (with a goal of 100% coverage for affordable high speed internet access by Dec/09).”
He has contacted the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, who administer a rural broadband expansion program announced in the 2008 provincial budget.
The Federal Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities also claims to be addressing the rural broadband gap through its Building Canada Fund.
But right now, the most viable options in our internet-challenged areas are satellite and mobile services.
Installing satellite service costs several hundred dollars and up to $100/month to run. Some users are happy, others complain that it has too much down-time and isn’t all that much faster than dial-up.
Mobile data service may be of interest if you are a heavy cell-phone user and get good signals at your Tiny residence. You can also use it wherever you may travel, even roaming. The cost is about $100-200 for the computer attachment and $70-90/month for the service.
We hope we’ll have better news in the Fall Tiny Cottager!
