“Because we're fairly flat and we do have trees and escarpments in the middle of our landscapes and valleys, those pose challenges,” said Dan Taylor, economic development officer for Ontario's Prince Edward County, an island roughly 200 kilometres east of Toronto.
While it already has high-speed Internet service in its main town, Picton, two companies are rolling out wireless broadband across the rest of the county, a popular tourist spot, with beaches and wineries.
Analysts say a more promising generation of wireless broadband is emerging: WiMax. It is designed for long distances, which means it could be cheaper as it requires less equipment, Mr. Laszlo said.
“There is still a lot of hope that WiMax provides that technological magic bullet needed to make rural broadband more economically feasible,” he said.
Saint-Pierre-Jolys in Manitoba has had wireless broadband for a few years. Farms outside of the town limits use it to sell their grain and hogs on-line, according to Mayor Réal Curé. And he credits it for helping attract two call centres.
The digital divide is clearly on the minds of rural communities, and Ottawa is taking a closer look at it. According to annual reports from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the number of communities without access has been reduced by almost two-thirds since 2000.
Reports indicate there are now only about 1,700 unserved communities, compared with an estimated 4,600 at the start of the decade.
Kathy Fisher, Industry Canada's director of broadband, said it never fell off the government's agenda. “There are still unserved Canadian communities out there,” she said.
Churchill, Man., became one of the have-nots for a brief spell this year. The town, well known for its polar bear tours and port on Hudson Bay, had broadband for a few years, using satellite and then fibre-optic line for the connection and wireless to distribute Internet access. The service provider wound down operations in May because of cost constraints. Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. then launched a high-speed service in December, using Manitoba Hydro's fibre-optic network.
“As a northern community, if you want to draw successful businesses ... you better have high-speed Internet ...” Churchill's Mayor Mike Spence said.
