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October 17, 2013
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...slow speed to get...
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high
The push is on to secure high speed ADSL Broadband Internet for Area's D and E.
Get your letter of support to RDNO...
Dear Residents of Area D and E,
We are requesting a letter of support from you so that quality, affordable high speed internet can be delivered to Areas D and E.
You may be aware that a small action group has been working to bring ADSL Broadband Internet to the rural areas of Area D and Area E. Currently we are negotiating a funding solution that has Telus investing to upgrade systems, however we have to capture additional funding in order to have the upgraded service reach as many rural households as possible.
Our goal is to have agreements reached by June 1, 2012 and a funding solution in place by that time. This would allow Telus to begin upgrading immediately afterwards.
In order to capture part of the funding required to make this happen we need a letter of support from you. The letter should describe why affordable, high speed internet is important to you, your family and your business or organization. We are looking for heartfelt stories that are real and represent both frustration and lost opportunity; as well as new opportunities that you could realize if you have access to ADSL Broadband.
You need to know that what we are about to achieve is not a “wireless service”, Telus will be bringing “wire” based ADSL Broadband to households, which is one of the most dependable, safest and affordable Internet service options in the province.
We need your help so that we can secure $100,000 or more from external sources. The Regional District of the North Okanagan will be making applications for funding support and they will be providing your letter to support these applications from both Area D and Area E. We would ask you to submit your letter by March 15th 2012, and feel free to forward this request to your neighbors; ask your children to submit a letter, as well as any contact that you might have who might be an interested party to this request.
Please send your letter by email to:
Leah Mellott the Area D Administrator at RDNO at:
Please include your name, address and phone number. Information will be held in strictest confidence.
To confirm the RDNO contact information Leah can be reached by phone at 250.550.3722
You can also mail your letter to:
RDNO, 9848 Aberdeen Rd. Coldstream, BC V1B 2K5
Attn: Leah Mellott
Or you can drop your letter off at:
The RDNO office addressed to Leah Mellott, the Area D Administrator.
We urge you and your family and neighbors to help us with this endeavor so that we can bring ADSL Broadband to our rural areas by June 1, 2012.
Many of you have already you have already provided a letter – many thanks and please pass this information on on to others.
Cut and Paste this web page link:
http://myvalleysun.homestead.com/Main2/Features/2012/E-ADSLLetterofSupport-1.html
Sincerely,
Don Elzer
250.547.9812
LETTER TO SUPPORT ADSL BROADBAND FOR RDNO AREA’S D AND E
Regional District of the North Okanagan
February 18, 2012
"As I am on disability the internet plays a very important part of my life. I have mobility, pain and energy issues. Having internet provides for a great part of my day to day communication and interaction with the world. Without high speed affordable internet I am not able to utilize a big part of this desired interaction."
Greetings,
I am writing a letter of support to RNDO for high speed affordable internet in our area. As I write this I feel slightly redundant – why does anyone have to make a formal request for a service that is considered essential for the majority?
I live on the boarder of Lumby and Cherryville BC, on purpose. I moved here to enjoy the lifestyle that comes along with being far enough outside the city so that you can see all the stars at night, not have to see anyone when you step out your door, and still be close enough to Vernon as to have access to all needs.
As I am on disability the internet plays a very important part of my life. I have mobility, pain and energy issues. Having internet provides for a great part of my day to day communication and interaction with the world. Without high speed affordable internet I am not able to utilize a big part of this desired interaction.
I also have many hobbies that I feel provide service to the community, while giving me a purpose in life. I am a member of the Lumby Questers Society, The Center for Spiritual Enlightenment and Sustainable Living, a Paranormal Discussion group, Women’s Wellness Weekend 2012, and various other activities. I know this sound like I am very physically busy – however most of my activity is online.
My husband and I used our savings last year to get a Bell Cell phone tower so that we can have high speed internet. It is not what we hoped it to be. It is expensive, and limited in use. We often go weeks at a time because we have used up the 3 GB available to us on the cheap end of the service. By cheap I am actually talking about the one we pay $50 a month for.
The only other options available to us are a very expensive satellite internet which is the same as the dial up that Telus offers us. Both of those options are archaic and frankly criminal. I have a question that no one is really able to answer for me – why is it that xplornet has a monopoly on the satellite service in my area??
I truly feel that reliable high speed affordable internet access is vital to the community I live in. The Internet has become the new method of communication for the world – with news, education, entertainment, banking, shopping, and event coordination. We are all worthy of access to it as far as I am concerned as a basic human right. With hope you will receive this letter of support and understand although it seems to be stating the obvious – it is also at its very nature an expression of a true need.
L.G
_________________________________________________________________________
LETTER TO SUPPORT ADSL BROADBAND FOR RDNO AREA’S D AND E
Regional District of the North Okanagan
February 18, 2012
"The promise was that this area would be supported by whatever infrastructure tools that were reasonably available which could then be used to support this community to transition its local economy."
Greetings,
This letter describes why I feel ADSL Broadband Internet is important to Area’s D and E in the Regional District of the North Okanagan.
I have lived at the same place between Lumby and Cherryville in Area D since 1981. In the 30 years that I have lived here I have been very involved in transitioning this community and its economy from resource extraction into a more diversified economy.
I have been a director and past president of the Lumby & District Chamber of Commerce; I have also been a director of the North Okanagan regional economic development board. I am the co-founder of the Monashee Tourism Association and I am the co-founder of the Lumby Food Bank, White Valley Community Resource Centre, Monashee Arts Council, Lumby Public Market and headed the original community campaigns to establish a Community Forest, second access to Silver Star and downtown revitalization in Lumby. I have also served as a member of the Okanagan Shuswap Land and Resource Management Plan Monitoring Committee.
I have been very involved with this community, both as a self-employed person and as a volunteer. Much of my community volunteer effort was spent when our first wave of sawmills shut down in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. In this period the local economy crashed in the wake of these closures and there was no infrastructure to rebuild the economy into something different. We had to start from scratch, and we received very little help from outside sources – we pretty much had to rebuild our community by ourselves.
There was one promise though – it was shared by every level of government and every support agency that was either directly or indirectly supported by government.
The promise was that this area would be supported by whatever infrastructure tools that were reasonably available which could then be used to support this community to transition its local economy.
This is why I am directly involved with bringing ADSL Broadband to our rural areas. It’s a chance to see that promise delivered. This effort has been a difficult one, and at present half the cost will be born by local residents with no assistance (so far) from either the provincial or federal governments.
This may be another example of our community simply delivering economic diversification on its own.
Many of us have diversified our own businesses by utilizing new technologies and in particular the Internet which has allowed us to gain access to wider markets for our products and services.
However, over the past decade the technology has grown beyond dial-up Internet connection speeds and our rural areas have not been able to keep pace with these changes.
Much of my livelihood depends on the Internet, and while my business was growing due to the application of this technology, I have found that in the past three years my revenues have slumped because I have not been able to apply online audio and video applications to my business. As well, I am expected to work within software applications that are then transferred back and forth between myself and customers over the Internet which given dial-up speeds, remains very difficult and inefficient to the point whereby I lose customers.
So why have I not entertained other forms of Internet technology?
Satellite Internet like Xplornet or other wireless applications is not a better solution. I’m in a reception area with a shadow and reception is undependable. Also, the volumes I transfer make wireless solutions ridiculously expensive. I publish over twenty news, science, learning and tourism related websites and generate content for even more; I require the same communication infrastructure as a comparable business in downtown Vancouver which most certainly anchors its business with ADSL Broadband or a similar cable service.
“Shadows” are real factors in our area. These reception shadows prevent us from having local radio and television as well.
Why don’t I move my business and career to downtown Vancouver?
That is a question that I continue to ask myself. I suppose I’m like a lot of other people out here – just plain stubborn. I live next to Highway 6 where I watch logging truck after logging truck pass my house taking logs away from this area. I do not suggest to people who live in Vernon. Kelowna or Vancouver that if they want to build a house that they must either live here in Area D where the wood is; or grow their own trees to build their house, in the city where they live, perhaps in their backyard or in Stanley Park.
I believe that we all have an obligation to thread opportunities and equality between urban and rural areas in order that we can bind together a larger community that we call Canada.
The Next Generation
My son should have access to the same opportunities as his counterparts in the city. If he does not have dependable and affordable Internet access he may not be on the same level playing field as his counterparts. Extracurricular knowledge, homework and basic knowledge around the application of communication will be key in his life, and it will be very important as he makes decisions as to whether he wants to live in a rural or urban area.
I seek to achieve a balance with him. While I do not want him to become absorbed in technology, I do want him to have access to it, so that he can learn how and where he can apply it in a wholistic way.
Common Sense Solutions
We have gauged that a lot of people have not relocated here because we do not have ADSL Broadband. Fifty years ago, if an area didn’t have phone or hydro service it would not attract new residents. Back then there were alternatives like diesel generators and shortwave, but very few people would be attracted to those challenging options.
In order for our community to sustain itself it must attract people who are leaders in new technologies and new kinds of businesses that will help us adjust from an extraction economy to a value-added economy. Supplying ADSL Broadband to this area is no different than building a road into the forest so that minerals and trees can be extracted. Part of that road cost will be provided by the private sector; and part by government.
It represents an investment so that opportunity and prosperity can be achieved.
Sincerely,
Don Elzer
Monashee Foothills, BC
RDNO - Area D
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