Alberta doesn't rank very well compared to other provinces in Canada and the country ranks 34th globally, compared to other country's internet connection speeds.

WE NEED TO GET CONNECTED!

As our communications and networking needs have grown over the last several years, a lack of robust high speed internet and lack of competition among internet service providers is causing Canada to fall behind other global technology providers.

Low levels of public investment in communications infrastructure has created a multitude of challenges for people of Alberta, and indeed all Canadians. Residential and businesses consumers require robust access to communications in order to be fully engaged in the increasingly connected global economy. These issues have become a substantial obstacle to growth and efficiency for everyone.

Please see this letter from several competitive ISPs.

Networks connect people. We believe that true High Speed networks, including Fibre To The Home (FTTH), will provide substantial social and economic benefits to all citizens of Alberta.

The solution to this problem is becoming increasingly obvious and the business case for doing so, attractive.

The solution involves building our community network to the carriers and ISPs. Instead of buying a overpriced "managed service" from Telco and CableCo, new technologies and the availability of fibre will allow the people of our communities to own the fiber to their house.

This allows people to connect to other people without traffic going all the way to another city and back. Users can extend their network from the home or school to the service provider of their choice, thereby enabling the emergence of competition and innovation. A number of municipalities across Canada and around the world are already deploying fibre networks.

In essence, these new networks are extending the internet model of autonomous-peering networks to the optical domain.

Customer Empowered Networking is at the core of this fundamental paradigm shift in the way communication networks of tomorrow need to be built.

WE NEED TO TAKE CONTROL OF OUR NETWORKS AND OUR FUTURE.

The Alberta government got involved at a provincial level with the SuperNet. But anticipated advantages are largely unrealized; Private business, doctors, students and ordinary citizens throughout Alberta do not have access to the SuperNet.

The municipalities have a substantial role in helping Alberta's citizens realize the benefits of high speed network infrastructure.  The benefits that broadband brings to a community are large and many. Significant opportunities exist for a municipality to fulfill many of it's goals for all it's citizens. The SuperNet provides an excellent model to learn from.

Be a part of the solution

Who does this impact?

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Here are just a few links to related information resources:

Alberta SuperNet
CBC Article - Can you own your network
Global and Mail article - Need for Speed
The City of Loma Linda
Rural Broadband Report
United Stated Connected Communities Association
Intelligent Communities
National Broadband Strategy
The Case for Municipal Broadband in Florida
Fiber to the Home Council