Reading Time: 3 minutes Government’s definition of high-speed internet for rural areas isn’t all that high, especially for farmers taking advantage of new technology. The problem is that the provincial government’s minimum standard (50 megabits per second for downloads and 10 mbps for uploads) is the same baseline Ottawa set seven years ago, and a lot has changed since […] Read more
‘High-speed’ internet is coming to rural areas — but the yardsticks have moved
Basic high speed will be fine for many, but farming is increasingly a business that needs serious bandwidth
Blazingly fast broadband arrives — but only for some
Starlink can be a big upgrade for rural users but it’s pricey and not available to all
Reading Time: 6 minutes After two years of increasingly slow internet service, an eight-month wait for a new Starlink system to arrive seemed like no time at all for Shane Strydhorst. “Kind of like everything Elon Musk is associated with, they make big promises but maybe fail to deliver in a timely fashion. But they promised very high speeds, […] Read more
High speed internet is finally on its way, say governments
Broadband projects to be announced soon, work to start in spring
Reading Time: < 1 minute The province and Ottawa say the long-awaited broadband expansion for rural Alberta will see “shovels in the ground” when the construction season gets underway this spring. Ottawa is matching the province’s $150-million pledge to expand broadband in rural, remote and Indigenous communities in Alberta. The two governments have agreed to jointly “select and move forward […] Read more
Better rural broadband internet is coming — eventually
Ottawa is pledging $2 billion for fast rural internet, but how that money gets spent is the key question
Reading Time: 7 minutes Ottawa’s pledge to spend $2 billion to bring decent broadband service to rural and remote areas is welcome news, but the devil will be in the details, say officials in Alberta. “I’m encouraged to see the funding, but the full delivery of it is the next question — how will we be able to make […] Read more
Out-of-this-world rural internet speeds still a long way off
Famed entrepreneur Elon Musk plans to bring affordable, high-speed internet to rural Canada, but experts are wary
Reading Time: 4 minutes SpaceX is shooting for the moon with the promise of reliable high-speed internet for rural Canadians — but farmers might want to keep their expectations a little more grounded, at least for now. Last month, the space exploration company owned by Elon Musk (of PayPal and Tesla fame applied for several Basic International Telecommunications Service […] Read more
Pandemic pushes rural internet speeds to the breaking point
Notoriously slow already, rural internet has struggled with increased demand during the pandemic — and that isn’t likely to change any time soon
Reading Time: 6 minutes The internet on Monika Benoit’s northern Alberta farm was bad enough before the pandemic. Now it’s almost “non-existent.” “We sigh a lot,” said Benoit, who farms with husband Mike near High Prairie. “Even when there’s not a pandemic, we have internet issues. But with the isolation and social distancing protocols we’re supposed to be following, […] Read more
Rationing internet a pandemic side-effect
Streaming a dream in rural Alberta as download speeds slow to a trickle
Reading Time: 3 minutes The pandemic has created an unwelcome blast from the past for rural Albertans dealing with internet speeds not seen since the days of dial-up. “I can see downtown Calgary from my window right now, and I feel like I’m in the sticks,” said Shelagh Blatz, who lives near Priddis. “I’m so close to Calgary, but […] Read more
Fast internet? An urban reality but a rural myth
The CRTC has cut its rural internet speed targets in half — calling it ‘a significant first step’
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s an issue that big-city bureaucrats can’t seem to wrap their heads around — an internet connection spread so thin that it’s nearly unusable during peak hours. But in rural Alberta, it’s an all-too-common problem. “The connection gets weaker and weaker the further you get away from the main corridor,” said Al Kemmere, president of […] Read more
Xplornet buying YourLink
One of Canada’s biggest providers of rural broadband is set to expand its space in the Saskatchewan market by buying rural high-speed wireless provider YourLink. New Brunswick-based Xplornet Communications on Monday announced an all-cash $28.75 million deal with Victoria-based Vecima Networks for the “remaining assets” of Vecima’s YourLink business. YourLink, based in Saskatoon, is a […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
