Georgina residents can’t binge watch Netflix when there’s no internet

Georgina, York Region working to fill fibre gaps to bring high-speed internet to town

Yorkregion.com
November 20, 2019
Amanda Persico

For many Georgina residents, binge watching Netflix or the new Disney Plus is a futuristic dream, where every house is connected to high speed internet.

But in reality, many are still living in the days before high speed internet -- a world many on the south side of Ravenshoe Road don’t remember or wouldn’t wish upon anyone.

“Not everyone can stream Netflix,” said Mayor Margaret Quirk. “High-speed internet is something taken for granted.”

Georgina is one of many rural communities in Canada left in the dark when it comes to broadband services.

And the town is working with York Region-owned telecom corporation, YorkNet, to plug in the internet gaps through the federal Connect to Innovate program.

The town is hosting a Connect to Innovate information night, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. at the ROC, 26479 Civic Centre Rd., Keswick.

“People move into the community from another community in York Region and assume there’s high speed internet,” said Quirk, who is also chairperson of the YorkNet board.

“Many areas in Georgina lack any sort of internet access, other than what they can get on their cellphone.”

There are many known internet black holes in town, near some of the older hamlets of Baldwin, Belhaven, Brownhill, Udora and many rural side streets.

But the town wants to know exactly where the internet dead zones are located.

The town is encouraging residents to participate in an internet speed survey. The 10-minute survey is open now until Nov. 30.

“I’m one of the lucky ones to have the speed I have,” said Quirk, who lives in a more rural area of town.

She reported download speeds of about five megabites per second and upload speeds of less than one megabits per second.

Compared to the rest of Canada, Georgina’s numbers are well behind.

According to Speedtest, a global broadband testing firm, Canada’s average download speed in 2018 on broadband is about 76 mbps and the average upload speed is about 25 mbps. The average provincial download speed is about 87 mbps.

Survey results are critical in providing hard and fast internet speed data, which is used to apply for more funding through the Connect to Innovate federal program.

The town is also hosting a business internet workshop Nov. 25 to learn more about the internet needs of local businesses.

“The internet is not just for fun,” Quirk said. “It’s for businesses, invoicing, home based businesses, online learning and courses.”

Having high speed internet helps boost the town’s economic development, she added.

Earlier this year, YorkNet received $2 million from Connect to Innovate funding put toward a $5.2 million project bringing high-speed internet to the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation and the community of Udora.

Through the program, dark fibre optic cables -- backbone infrastructure -- are installed along roadways and delivered and to rural areas connecting a number of regional assets including buildings, traffic and transit control, water-quality monitoring systems and social housing units, as well as connecting hospitals, local municipal operations, libraries and police services along the route.

The federal government has earmarked about $500 million to bring high-speed internet to more than 300 rural and remote communities across the country.

Tendering and design work for YorkNet’s dark fibre optic network is expected to start in early 2020, with construction compete by 2021