The Internet has come a long way since dial-up was the norm, but it doesn’t feel that way in many rural Alberta communities.
Rock Solid Nitrogen can be found at: vermilion Eastern Alberta. The company relies on the Internet for almost everything: tracking trucks, updating equipment, training staff and, of course, administrative tasks.
Problem: Unreliable internet connection.
“Where we are, we probably lose internet functionality an average of four to five times a month,” said Randy Martin.
“In our business field, time costs money.”
Martin said that if a system goes down, it can take hours to get it back up and running. He said many customers want real-time data on their trucks pumping nitrogen, or a quick response for a quote.
“They can get it back from the producer…they are working and sometimes the system is down. We have to wait four, five, six days.”
Alberta Invests $390 Million in High-Speed Internet for Rural, Remote and Indigenous Communities
read more
Kevin Lucas, CAO of the town of Vermilion, says slow internet is affecting many businesses.
“An offshore company came to the town of Vermilion and considered setting up a business here, but we couldn’t provide the internet access they needed,” says Lucas.
“Being able to bring (1 Gbps) service to homes at a very affordable price is exactly what this community has been asking for.”
Vermillion does not meet federal or state funding requirements. Some parts of the town have highways running through them.so the town changed Alberta Broadband NetworkStartup company sponsored by Meridium When Digital Infrastructure Group.
Alberta Broadband Network CEO Ken Spaglingar said: “Many of these communities operate on copper-based, sometimes coax-based services that can’t even come close to the service and speeds we offer.”
Spaglingar said Vermilion was the first community they partnered with. He said there was less urgency for big companies like Telus and Shaw to invest in smaller centers.
“The ability to bring a small Agile team together to deliver a service is much easier than having a large group to join and navigate.”
Vermilion’s fiber optic cable network is already installed and in use.
“This is a robust network that is very similar in style to those found in inner-city areas such as downtown Edmonton and downtown Calgary.
“What we are doing is trying to bridge the digital divide between urban centers and rural communities.”
The project cost $10-15 million to build, with the town donating $2.4 million.
“When it comes to the economy, which is a game changer today, Vermillion has the internet that big companies want,” said Lucas.
High speed internet is required in many rural areas
Cyberra is a research and education network that examines the use of digital technology. According to policy adviser Imran Mohiuddin, most cities hit the federal government’s high-speed internet benchmarks of 50 megabytes per second for downloads and 10 megabytes per second for uploads.
Prime Minister Trudeau Stops at NB to Announce $500 Million Additional Rural High Speed Internet Access
“If you look at rural communities, this drops to about 40% and First Nations communities to less than 10%,” he said.
“This is broadly the police of what we call Canada’s digital divide.”
Mohiuddin said the way the federal government maps Canadian connections to meet access to target speeds means there are pockets in cases like Vermilion.
“There may be pockets of access to high-speed internet, but the majority of the community does not. or not sufficient to support industrial use.”
He also said that while communities are not eligible for funding, it also creates a situation where service providers in the area do not build better networks because they are very costly.
It is not limited to towns and rural communities. Several smaller cities in the state are also facing this problem.
The city of Brooks is home to nearly 15,000 people, but their internet speeds aren’t meeting their needs. The city is not subsidized either.
“Because[the government]was able to find 50 and 10 speeds within the community, but most of our community can’t do that. said CAO Alan of Martens said.
“We have partners who are currently funded. community network partnersThey work through their parent company, Crown Capital (Partners Inc.), so basically our project is just over $20 million, of which $5.8 million has been raised.
The Internet is installed in zones and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2023.
“Communities today need a good internet connection to compete, especially globally. said.
“For commerce, it helps a lot. They have no barriers to where and with whom they do business.”
Some Canadians Seek Reliable Internet Outside Their Borders
Some Canadians are looking abroad for their internet needs.
star link It’s an option being considered across Canada, with more people signing up every day.
SpaceX has more than 3,200 Starlink satellites in orbit, providing high-speed broadband internet to remote parts of the world.
All hardware (self-aligning dishes, mounts, cables) is shipped directly from the American company to the customer for approximately $800. Most remote properties have high speed internet access as long as you have a clear view of the sky. The service itself costs $140 per month.
The service has caught the attention of some state governments. Quebec said in May that he had invested $50 million to deliver Starlink to about 10,000 remote locations in the province by the end of September. Homes are located away from the state’s fiber optic cable network.
Using Elon Musk’s Starlink to Provide High-Speed Internet Access to Remote Homes in Quebec
Then, in July, Nova Scotia offered about 3,700 rural homes and businesses a one-time rebate of up to $1,000 to get satellite internet, Starlink set up by Radio Canada. Said to be the only company able to meet the required minimum download and upload speed targets. Television and Telecommunications Commission.
Other providers can participate in the rebate program by meeting a minimum requirement of 50 MB per second for downloads and 10 MB per second for uploads.
Amazon also plans to launch its first Internet satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida, early next year.
— Using files from The Canadian Press
