Communities without broadband say the digital divide is bad for business
Prince Edward Island Preserve Co. Ltd. finally found a way to get high-speed Internet service this year -- it moved some of its operations to Charlottetown.
Owner Bruce MacNaughton decided mail-order business couldn't wait until a new broadband service rolled out to his town, New Glasgow, a stop on PEI's tourist trail. Paperwork for food shipments to the United States was taking too long with a dial-up connection.
"We ended up buying out another business that had the proper facilities and access to high-speed Internet, and was also in the mail-order business," he explained.
That's how far some rural businesses will go for a high-speed Internet hookup. The digital divide affects many rural communities, which say it's bad for business. In their search for ways to bring broadband to residents, they are turning to different solutions, such as emerging wireless technology.
In 2001, the federal government pledged to bring broadband to all Canadians by 2004. But by the end of that year, only 68 per cent of rural residents had high-speed Internet access, compared with 98 per cent of urban dwellers. Ottawa is looking at ways to bridge the gap as part of a broader review of the telecommunications sector, and is expected to release its report next year.
"We were getting a lot of calls with people looking for high-speed [Internet]," said Norman Dewar, manager of KenNet Inc., which operates a technology centre in Kensington, PEI.
KenNet became the community champion, leading the "Malpeque Bay Community Broadband Network" project to introduce high-speed Internet in New Glasgow and neighbouring towns.
The main sticking point for getting high-speed Internet to remote areas is that it's very costly to extend landlines to offer broadband over large distances with few residents. Some remote communities are getting broadband access through satellite, which has a wide and quick reach, but users have to pay hefty upfront installation costs.
So for many remote residents, wireless is an attractive option. Connecting to a fibre-optic or satellite network, providers are using wireless transmission points on towers or poles to distribute access.
Slower dial-up service over phone lines wasn't cutting it for the area covered by the Malpeque Bay project, an area along PEI's northern coast that is home to a wide range of businesses including oyster farms, lobster restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and the Green Gables house. It was time-consuming to deal with customers through dial-up service, and businesses were bogged down by the delays when accessing or sending on-line forms, Mr. Dewar said.
In order to receive federal funding, the community was required to use a technology that would reach all residents, and wireless fit that bill, Mr. Dewar said.
The company selected by the community project to sell wireless broadband service in the area was Route2 of Summerside, PEI, which also offers the service to other areas in the province. It finished building the network at the end of September, although it must add more relay points to pass on the wireless signals and reach the whole area.
One of its new clients is Steve Howatt, president of New Glasgow-based Atlantic AgriTech Inc. Broadband is making his agricultural research firm more efficient;.
it now takes only seconds to send a file that used to take up to 20 minutes. "I couldn't imagine going back to dial-up, and it's only been three months," Mr. Howatt said.
There are various wireless broadband technologies and the quality can vary greatly, said Jupiter Research analyst Joe Laszlo.
Speed and security can be problematic, said Miles Lee, a vice-president at telecom consultant Adventis. "It's better than having dial-up," Mr. Lee said. "But it's not the ideal solution."
One major hurdle is getting the so-called line of sight, say communities with wireless broadband. Antennas on a house or business must have a clear view of the transmission tower.
"Because we're fairly flat and we do have trees and escarpments in the middle of our landscapes and valleys, those pose challenges," said Dan Taylor, economic development officer for Ontario's Prince Edward County, an island roughly 200 kilometres east of Toronto.
While it already has high-speed Internet service in its main town, Picton, two companies are rolling out wireless broadband across the rest of the county, a popular tourist spot, with beaches and wineries.
Analysts say a more promising generation of wireless broadband is emerging: WiMax. It is designed for long distances, which means it could be cheaper as it requires less equipment, Mr. Laszlo said.
"There is still a lot of hope that WiMax provides that technological magic bullet needed to make rural broadband more economically feasible," he said.
Saint-Pierre-Jolys in Manitoba has had wireless broadband for a few years. Farms outside of the town limits use it to sell their grain and hogs on-line, according to Mayor Réal Curé. And he credits it for helping attract two call centres.
The digital divide is clearly on the minds of rural communities, and Ottawa is taking a closer look at it. According to annual reports from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the number of communities without access has been reduced by almost two-thirds since 2000.
Reports indicate there are now only about 1,700 unserved communities, compared with an estimated 4,600 at the start of the decade.
Kathy Fisher, Industry Canada's director of broadband, said it never fell off the government's agenda. "There are still unserved Canadian communities out there," she said.
Churchill, Man., became one of the have-nots for a brief spell this year. The town, well known for its polar bear tours and port on Hudson Bay, had broadband for a few years, using satellite and then fibre-optic line for the connection and wireless to distribute Internet access. The service provider wound down operations in May because of cost constraints. Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. then launched a high-speed service in December, using Manitoba Hydro's fibre-optic network.
"As a northern community, if you want to draw successful businesses. . . you better have high-speed Internet . . ." Churchill's Mayor Mike Spence said.
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Prince Edward Island Preserve Co. Ltd. finally found a way to get high-speed Internet service this year -- it moved some of its operations to Charlottetown.
Owner Bruce MacNaughton decided mail-order business couldn't wait until a new broadband service rolled out to his town, New Glasgow, a stop on PEI's tourist trail. Paperwork for food shipments to the United States was taking too long with a dial-up connection.
"We ended up buying out another business that had the proper facilities and access to high-speed Internet, and was also in the mail-order business," he explained.
That's how far some rural businesses will go for a high-speed Internet hookup. The digital divide affects many rural communities, which say it's bad for business. In their search for ways to bring broadband to residents, they are turning to different solutions, such as emerging wireless technology.
In 2001, the federal government pledged to bring broadband to all Canadians by 2004. But by the end of that year, only 68 per cent of rural residents had high-speed Internet access, compared with 98 per cent of urban dwellers. Ottawa is looking at ways to bridge the gap as part of a broader review of the telecommunications sector, and is expected to release its report next year.
"We were getting a lot of calls with people looking for high-speed [Internet]," said Norman Dewar, manager of KenNet Inc., which operates a technology centre in Kensington, PEI.
KenNet became the community champion, leading the "Malpeque Bay Community Broadband Network" project to introduce high-speed Internet in New Glasgow and neighbouring towns.
The main sticking point for getting high-speed Internet to remote areas is that it's very costly to extend landlines to offer broadband over large distances with few residents. Some remote communities are getting broadband access through satellite, which has a wide and quick reach, but users have to pay hefty upfront installation costs.
So for many remote residents, wireless is an attractive option. Connecting to a fibre-optic or satellite network, providers are using wireless transmission points on towers or poles to distribute access.
Slower dial-up service over phone lines wasn't cutting it for the area covered by the Malpeque Bay project, an area along PEI's northern coast that is home to a wide range of businesses including oyster farms, lobster restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and the Green Gables house. It was time-consuming to deal with customers through dial-up service, and businesses were bogged down by the delays when accessing or sending on-line forms, Mr. Dewar said.
In order to receive federal funding, the community was required to use a technology that would reach all residents, and wireless fit that bill, Mr. Dewar said.
The company selected by the community project to sell wireless broadband service in the area was Route2 of Summerside, PEI, which also offers the service to other areas in the province. It finished building the network at the end of September, although it must add more relay points to pass on the wireless signals and reach the whole area.
One of its new clients is Steve Howatt, president of New Glasgow-based Atlantic AgriTech Inc. Broadband is making his agricultural research firm more efficient;.
it now takes only seconds to send a file that used to take up to 20 minutes. "I couldn't imagine going back to dial-up, and it's only been three months," Mr. Howatt said.
There are various wireless broadband technologies and the quality can vary greatly, said Jupiter Research analyst Joe Laszlo.
Speed and security can be problematic, said Miles Lee, a vice-president at telecom consultant Adventis. "It's better than having dial-up," Mr. Lee said. "But it's not the ideal solution."
One major hurdle is getting the so-called line of sight, say communities with wireless broadband. Antennas on a house or business must have a clear view of the transmission tower.
"Because we're fairly flat and we do have trees and escarpments in the middle of our landscapes and valleys, those pose challenges," said Dan Taylor, economic development officer for Ontario's Prince Edward County, an island roughly 200 kilometres east of Toronto.
While it already has high-speed Internet service in its main town, Picton, two companies are rolling out wireless broadband across the rest of the county, a popular tourist spot, with beaches and wineries.
Analysts say a more promising generation of wireless broadband is emerging: WiMax. It is designed for long distances, which means it could be cheaper as it requires less equipment, Mr. Laszlo said.
"There is still a lot of hope that WiMax provides that technological magic bullet needed to make rural broadband more economically feasible," he said.
Saint-Pierre-Jolys in Manitoba has had wireless broadband for a few years. Farms outside of the town limits use it to sell their grain and hogs on-line, according to Mayor Réal Curé. And he credits it for helping attract two call centres.
The digital divide is clearly on the minds of rural communities, and Ottawa is taking a closer look at it. According to annual reports from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the number of communities without access has been reduced by almost two-thirds since 2000.
Reports indicate there are now only about 1,700 unserved communities, compared with an estimated 4,600 at the start of the decade.
Kathy Fisher, Industry Canada's director of broadband, said it never fell off the government's agenda. "There are still unserved Canadian communities out there," she said.
Churchill, Man., became one of the have-nots for a brief spell this year. The town, well known for its polar bear tours and port on Hudson Bay, had broadband for a few years, using satellite and then fibre-optic line for the connection and wireless to distribute Internet access. The service provider wound down operations in May because of cost constraints. Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. then launched a high-speed service in December, using Manitoba Hydro's fibre-optic network.
"As a northern community, if you want to draw successful businesses. . . you better have high-speed Internet . . ." Churchill's Mayor Mike Spence said.
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