After meeting with Bell Canada reps here last week, local Internet Service Providers and Mayor Glenn Witherspoon agree–it’s time to look for alternative sources of high-speed Internet.
“Hopefully, Northwest Mobility will flip on their microwave towers this week and we’ll need somebody like the Fort Frances Power Corp. to act as a provider to [offer] high-speed,” said Mayor Witherspoon.
The mayor echoed the feeling of local ISPs after last Thursday’s by-invitation-only session with the Bell reps that nothing new was learned at it.
“Not really,” he admitted. “There’s a lot of other alternatives that can happen faster . . . we need something like yesterday.”
The ISPs also are looking to alternatives for high-speed Internet, a move Voyageur Net manager Rob Lindstrom said they need to do together.
“We have to develop alternatives not only for Fort Frances but for the 807 area,” he said.
“There’s not a lot of dialogue between businesses and service providers,” he added. “We need a district-wide Internet [group] to come to be and say these are the things that, as a district, we need you to do.”
During last Thursday’s meeting, local business owners and ISPs were told to wait by Bernie Blake, Bell Canada’s general manager for Northwestern Ontario, and Caren Naismith, Bell Canada’s regional director, while the company mulls over upcoming projects.
“You have made a request for DSL. We have taken that request and engaged internally,” noted Blake.
“Their plan for the year is providing DSL in the areas that provide the biggest return in their investment, however, that doesn’t mean we’ll stop talking about it,” he added.
But the response from Bell was the last straw for those requesting the company provide high-speed access here.
“I would say there isn’t any high-speed Internet coming from Bell in the near future,” said Lindstrom.
“As far as I know, anyone in town who is pursuing high-speed Internet is pursuing alternatives,” agreed Lincoln Dunn, a Web site designer with the Fort Frances Times’ Electronic Publishing department.
“I don’t think anyone who was at that meeting expects to see high-speed Internet from Bell [here] for at least 18 months to two years,” he added.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
