rural dwellers who want better links to the online world, regularly give
up space on their land for equipment, and volunteer to help connect
neighbours who can be as far as 10 kilometres away. They do it because
Canada's big telecom companies won't provide high-speed Internet access to
many of these areas, since there is no profit in hooking up sparsely
populated, difficult-to-serve regions.
Now the group, which has been offering wireless Internet access over an
unregulated – and often unreliable – slice of public airwaves since 1993,
wants to upgrade. It has applied to use a higher-quality piece of wireless
spectrum, one that will allow it to offer faster connections that won't be
affected by interference from run-of-the-mill wireless devices like garage
door openers, as its current service does.
But the effort has hit a bizarre obstacle: Industry Canada says the
5,000-member society, all of whom are residents of B.C. or Alberta, is not
Canadian enough to qualify.
Red tape snarls rural Internet firm - The Globe and Mail
http://ow.ly/3385w
RT @northern_clips: Northern/rural high-speed Internet focus of CRTC
hearings http://ow.ly/337J5 Australia & US set targets to cover 100% of
their populations
RT @jameshenrybell: Connect the dots: Bring broadband to all Canadians -
The Globe and Mail http://bit.ly/aL3PT8
