Better Farming - January 2017

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4 Dig Deeper: Better Farming January 2017
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BEHIND THE LINES
Internet in the countryside
Throughout my university education, I was back and
forth between Waterloo (where I went to school) and
the home farm. I didn’t have to think about Internet
access a lot.
When I was at school, online tasks (and leisure
activities) were simple. I could just open up my laptop
and get started. Yes, the Internet speeds on the home
farm were definitely slower – but it wasn’t a big deal. I
could simply wait until I returned to the city on
Sunday night if our rural Internet was being sluggish.
Eventually, I decided that I’d rather commute to the city than back to the farm.
So, when I moved to my current apartment (at the dead end of a gravel side
road), I didn’t think about the challenges I’d face with regard to Internet access.
Finding providers in the countryside can be challenging, as I know many of
you can attest. But, I had an added complication: my apartment backs onto a bush
filled with very tall trees. Only one company was able to complete an installation,
provided that I remembered the trees could cut off my access as they grew.
So far, I’ve been lucky. But there have been service interruptions because of the
weather. And I’ve had to become used to the fact that some days I can’t access my
company work server from home, or some nights I can’t watch online videos.
In this month’s main feature, writer Nick Van Allen explores the current state
of Internet access in rural Ontario. There are certainly significant differences
across the province. The infographic below shows how lucky urban residents are,
for example, in contrast to those of us who are reliant on mobile wireless Internet.
Thankfully, Van Allen suggests there are improvements in the pipelines.
Perhaps we’ll be able to have fast, reliable access like our urban counterparts soon.
Finally, this month I’d like to make special mention of Barry Wilson. For
approximately 17 years, Barry helped us to stay informed about federal agricul-
tural policies in his monthly Better Farming column. He retired in December –
after a career in journalism spanning 46 years. We will miss your monthly
insights, Barry, and wish you all the best in your future projects. BF
ANDREA M. GAL
DOWNLOAD SPEEDS
ACROSS ONTARIO
Wireless,
1.5 – 3.0 Mbps
Hanover (in Grey
County) & Glencoe
(in Middlesex
County), 22 – 26 Mbps
Stevensville & Smithville
(in the Niagara region),
2.2 – 2.4 Mbps Urban, 20 – 25 Mbps
Along Hwy 401,
5.0 – 10 Mbps
Data: Interview with Helen Hambly Odame
at the University of Guelph. See page 14 of
“Realizing rural broadband.”