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Feature Article January 30

Feature Article January 30, 2002

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Broadband Access for rural Canadiansby David BrisonThe federal government has recently cut back on plans to provide all Canadians high-speed broadband access. Many Canadians, primarily those in rural areas, are unable to make full use of the Internet with the slower access which is available to them.

In my interview with Jim MacPherson, The head of the Land O Lakes Communication Network, he commented on the effects of this cutback in our area.

Broadband access will come. It is not a question of if, but when. It is the same as the coming of electricity, and the telephone; also improved roads, Jim said. The decision of the government to cut back on their plans to provide it may turn out to be a good thing. We cant be complacent and sit and wait, but will have to go out and get it ourselves, he added.

I raised the question of whether it is necessary for computer users to have higher speed access, or whether it is a luxury that can be foregone, like many new improvements in technology. Jim had some interesting things to say on this subject. He told of having a conference call with two colleagues who were preparing a report. We needed to look at a document, and they were both able to download it in a matter of seconds. It took me 20 minutes before I could get the document downloaded and in front of me, he said. Further, many documents used in business and government are prepared with graphics, pictures, and videos. They are easy to process with high-speed access, and most Canadians have it. It makes it difficult to communicate and do business on an equal footing.

So it is not solely a matter of telling our relatives and friends that it clogs up our computers when they send videos, graphics, and a lot of baby pictures. That is an inconvenience, but perhaps not a critical one. A more important consequence is the limitation that lower-speed access has on business in the area, and on our ability to attract home-based businesses to our region.

Jim says that there are ways to get higher speed access than we presently receive from our available Internet providers. The problem, according to Jim, is what we are willing to pay for it. One Eastern Ontario insurance company was able to link up six offices through wireless radio. Wireless technology is evolving quickly and has promise, says Jim. Another possibility is access through satellite. Right now we can receive and consume information at a high speed but have to use our slow speed modems to transmit information. Yet another alternative is DSL technology higher speed access that can be transmitted and received over the copper wire that presently comes into the home via phone lines. It is possible to use your computer and the phone at the same time, and the access is much faster than our present low-speed access, but not as fast as broadband. Dave Smith of the North Frontenac Telephone Co. is investigating this technology at present.

One improvement that we wont have to wait long for, or pay any more money to receive, is underway at North Frontenac Tel. Co. Dave Smith is installing a new 3 meg Internet pipe to Kingston (via Westport). This wont provide higher speed access, but will relieve the congestion problem experienced at peak use time, such as when children get home from school.

Jim MacPherson estimates that 50% of the people in this area now have access to the Internet in their homes. Improvement in Internet use will benefit a lot of our residents.

We have not used many technical terms, such as transmission speeds, in this article. We have also skirted the topic of how broadband access is provided and where it is presently available. However, if you have specific technical questions, send them to us and we will see if we can answer them or get others to do so.

With the participation of the Government of Canada