Dial Up Purgatory
Guest Author | Jun 26, 2009
Article by guest author Ken Lee
Dear Neighbours:
Ashley Hilliard and I are working on an initiative to have an area of southern Salt Spring Island included in the map of unserved broadband internet areas being prepared by Industry Canada. This would potentially qualify the area for up to 
50% matching funds, as announced in the federal Budget 2009. We are pursuing this through Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Gary Lunn and this unique online petition. Hopefully, success with this will trigger other ongoing efforts to bring broadband internet access to all of Salt Spring.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION NOW!
Here is the background to this initiative:
Two years ago my Association representing south Salt Spring residents and property owners (SSSIPORA) , approached the CEO’s of Telus and Shaw with a petition signed by dial up users from the south end of our Island. The Petition appealed to them for broadband internet access services.
The good news was that Shaw Cablesystems responded by mapping the existing poles and cabling available along Beaver Point Road and all its connecting roads south of Stewart Road. The bad news was that Shaw then informed us that bringing broadband to the Beaver Point area would require a $700,000 investment and that the return on their investment (ROI) would be insufficient. Happily that picture may well have changed this year with the economic “downturn” and the federal government’s recent creation of Industry Canada to provide significant infrastructure funding to both public and private enterprises.
On June 10 2009, with new reason for hope on the horizon, Ashley and I met with Cecil Saele, the Manager of Planning and Technical Projects, at the Shaw Cablesystems office in Victoria.
As stated, in MP Gary Lunn’s letter (attached), the federal government is preparing to spend $225million over three years, through Industry Canada, to develop and implement a strategy on extending broadband coverage to all currently unserved communities beginning in 2009. Ashley has been in contact with Gary Lunn’s executive assistant who has urged us to explore this new “window of opportunity.”
Shaw planners told us that the push for this could not come from them but would have to come from the Island residents in the form of petitions and letters to our federal MP. If we are successful, it is not inconceivable that we could get enough government funding to trigger a partnership with Shaw.
On behalf of the residents in the South Salt Spring, I urge you to unite and sign our online petition and, in your own words, e-mail our MP Gary Lunn at lunnea@garylunn.com or write to him at his Constituency Office at 9843 2nd Street, Sidney BC V8L 3C7. Since entire families use the internet these days please invite each family member at your address sign this Petition. (Please note that the petition accepts only one name from each email address, so family members will have to have different email addresses in order to sign their names.)
Salt Spring Community Website has most generously assisted us in this huge effort.
“Let us band together to help bring Broadband Access to every home on Salt Spring Island – thank you!”
Sincerely,
Ken Lee, President SSSIPORA South Salt Spring Island Property Owners and Residents Association.
250-537-4551 kennethivorlee@hotmail.com
About the Author: Ken Lee came to Salt Spring in 1991 after retiring from a career in education in Ontario. He is known for his community work as a Trustee with the School Board, the Fire Protection District, as well as serving for 5 years as a Salt Spring Ferry Stakeholder. A keen singer, he also sang for many years with the Salt Spring Singers and Tuned Air.
Ken is a “total admirer” of Michael Moore and his approach to problem solving. This approach worked well at the “Fulford Tea Party” in 1998 which resulted in an increase in ferry fares being frozen for two years. He also successfully intervened, disguised as a shareholder, at a Manulife Corporation AGM in Toronto during the “Battle for Salt Spring.” Photo submitted by Ken Lee.
Here are additional background documents:
- Letter from Gary Lunn’s Office March 2009, click the blue text to open the letter
- Letter to Gary Lunn June 2009
- Letter to Shaw June 2009
[...] time is right to make this appeal: read Ken Lee’s article and then take action, by signing [...]
Please get us high speed hook up. Why are we so backward here, that we have only a 56K hookup. It’s 2009, not 1999. We need to have a more available access to the rest of the world, in order to communicate and do our internet business in a timely fashion.
Thanks.
Thank you for your initiative. The South end is not the only place where one cannot get high speed internet. Same with parts of the North end (Wilkie Way).The last time I spoke to the local Shaw office, I got a vague indication that something might be happening in the next little while, but an email to Shaw HQ produced no clarification or, for that matter, no response of any kind. One would think that guaranteed customers for the next few decades would be sufficient incentive … .
Hurray, let’s try. It has taken me 15 mins to get this page to load and I haven’t even clicked the on-line petition part. Thank you Ken and Ashley for spearheading this. I hope we get somewhere soon
I live on Mt. Belcher and don’t have highspeed either, just dial up. Any plans to include other areas of the island wallowing in slow phone lines on your petition?
I hope this would include cell phone usability also — many Fulford ferry travellers would appreciate being able to reach someone meeting them in case of a delay.
Thanks for all your hard work on this, Ken and Ashley……and yes, we should be part of the World as a whole.