High Speed Internet Access - Or Lack thereof!

A growing concern for Steelhead is the fact that our community is not within the service area of any wireless providers leaving Steelhead residents compromised and vulnerable in the event of a medical emergency.  This has led a grass-roots effort to demand Telus upgrade our current telephone infrastructure to support high-speed internet and wireless communication.  

However, discussions with Telus have been frustrating, at best.  As well, it really is all about the money and the cost effectiveness of upgrades and how things pan out with the shareholders.  It was noted to the Director of Internet Services at Telus that community safety was at issue here with no viable means of communication in the event of an emergency or peril, with a letter from the local detachment of the RCMP to support this.  However, this seems to have fallen on deaf ears particularly because it would appear that we have absolutely no teeth in the form of laws or regulations for these service providers beyond the CRTC mandate that requires telephone companies to supply the minimum of dial-up internet service, and that is what we've got.

There was a CRTC Decision 2006-09 that required the telephone companies to set aside a deferral account for an initiative to provide remote communities with broadband or high-speed internet.  This study classified these rural areas into "Rate Bands" which determines the pecking order of supplying these remote communities with broadband access with priority given to areas with medical centers.  Steelhead falls into Rate Band "D" which means that we are not even on the radar for this initiative.   The picture is even more bleak as far as access to cellular telephone transmission service goes.  

It would therefore appear that Steelhead will not be receiving ADSL or cellular telephone service through Telus in the foreseeable future.  If anyone can pull a rabbit out of the hat in order find an innovative means to pursue this effort, please let us know!  One thing for sure is that we need a louder voice, and numbers speak in volumes, so if you have anything to offer please let us know ASAP.  In the meantime, we have attached a Petition for your support, and if you have anything to offer about alternative means for high-speed internet services such as two-way satellite, we would love to hear from you!

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