Help us Get Better Internet Access!
Saturday July 18, 2020
As schools, workplaces, stores, government services and community events move online, a whopping 59% of rural households across Canada still don’t have access to reliable high-speed Internet (50/10 mbps) – and that certainly includes Jack’s Lake.The federal government has committed to connect everyone by 2030, but that will still leave thousands of households out of the 21st century economy for another decade.
During these COVID times, and surely beyond, we now have multiple breadwinners and multiple students all working from home at the same time. It’s time to speed things up!
What has been done?
Your Jack’s Lake Association has already made a submission to the Prime Minister and the House Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.
You can see JLA's submission here.
What can you do?
a)
The non-profit community-driven organization called Open Media is coordinating a petition to the Government of Canada. Please add your voice, RIGHT NOW.
Go to this link, enter your name, email address, preferably your local Jack Lake phone number, and your Jack Lake postal code (K0L 1A0). It takes just 5 seconds.
https://action.openmedia.org/page/60361/petition
b)
Let the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) perform a speed test of your internet connection(s) at Jack Lake to help them believe Internet speed often isn't great here.
With your browsing device connected to a main Internet service (e.g. via telephone wire, cable wire, microwave service, satellite service, or cellular hub), go to this link and follow the 3 steps below (see helpful image):
https://performance.cira.ca
- Enter Jack Lake’s Postal Code, K0L 1A0
- Click the blue pin; on the pop-up map zoom out until you see Jack Lake and click/drag the yellow pin to the location of your property
- Press the "Start” button.; test takes about 20 seconds
Repeat with your device connected to your cellular stick or mobile phone, from the location in the building where you would normally want to work.
c)
Tell Bell you really want fast Internet!Go to this link, fill in contact details (use a dummy 9-digit account number if you have to), choose Product - Internet, Reason - Other, and in the Details box say you would like Bell to install Fibe service to your Jack Lake property. This takes about 1 minute.
They will phone you back and you can explain that you would be a customer of truly high-speed Internet if they would provide it on the lake. Bell keeps track of these requests to upgrade wiring.
(BTW, at time of writing Bell offers basic Fibe 15 Mbps at some places on Jack Lake for $50/month, 25 Mbps for $80/month, and in Apsley itself 50 Mbps for $80/month. Fibre speeds need to extend to all homes on Jack Lake!)
Thank you for your help encouraging those that can make better Internet service happen!