The Huron North Community Economic Alliance (HNCEA) is conducting an information survey on internet service in the area, including Blind River.
Blind River councillor Betty Ann Dunbar told ElliotLakeToday the survey is designed to determine areas where internet service needs to be improved or areas where there is limited or no service. Dunbar is a member of HNCEA along with Coun. Paula Summers who represent the community.
According to Dunbar, the data is being gathered by the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre and the information will eventually be sent to the federal government as part of its commitment to improve internet service in northern Ontario. Those who do not currently have internet access or have poor access can get an information form at the municipal office, Blind River library, or the First Nation band office to fill out and submit.
The HNCEA has created a Broadband Task Group (BTG) to find the needs, voids and gaps with internet service in the area and is presently collecting data on internet service, stated a news release issued by the HNCEA.
“We’re just doing the groundwork to see what the need is,” Dunbar said. “The more data we collect the stronger the application (to the federal government) will be for broadband.”
The federal government has already announced a target of 90 per cent of Canadians to receive an internet connection that would improve uploading and downloading of information. The government will be offering several funding opportunities to assist internet service providers to upgrade their networks to deliver improved services.
“They are interested in developing broadband in our area,” Dunbar added.
The information can also be posted online.
“We know that within our community very few people enjoy that level of connectivity. To ensure that the reality of Internet services are known, we have partnered with Blue Sky Net and we’re asking you to participate by running a speed test online. You will receive real-time results when running the speed test. Blue Sky Net will receive a tabular report of the test results too. We will use the results to populate a database of the area’s overall internet performance,” a news release from,” according to the HNCEA release.
The information should be sent in by Nov. 18 and is open to residents and businesses.
The broadband task force is expected to host meetings with all its stakeholders to talk about results and to plan next steps in the process. Meeting times and locations will be posted in the near future.