4 ms·

Internet deserts can change drastically from block to block. It's not an environmental thing that gets transferred by geography so comparing the commute distan

by LAMike 6y ago

Internet deserts can change drastically from block to block. It's not an environmental thing that gets transferred by geography so comparing the commute distance doesn't make sense. More accurate correlation would be household income in the neighborhoods there is lack of Internet.

def8cefe 6y ago
From your name you live in LA. I live in and know the area I am talking about. Thanks for the suggestion. As for household income proximity to Toronto is an indicator of wealth in itself. I don't mean this in a belittling way, but if you are from California your concept of 'remote' is vastly different to ours in Ontario, where we have less than half the population in ~2.5x the landmass, and that population is mostly in the Toronto area. Now imagine what 'remote' must mean in the less populated provinces and territories (Ontario is the most populated province).
def8cefe 6y ago
Just commenting again to try and make it up to all the people who buried my other reply. Let me go a bit more in depth. > It's not an environmental thing that gets transferred by geography so comparing the commute distance doesn't make sense. Proximity to Canada's economic and telecommunications hub (Toronto) does in fact influence access to the Internet. >More accurate correlation would be household income in the neighborhoods there is lack of Internet. There is access to the Internet in the two communities I mentioned, which is why I brought it up in the first place. The access isn't as good as downtown Toronto or some areas in the suburbs, but in comparison to actual remote areas it is fantastic. My entire point in the comment that you replied to is mentioning Barrie and Cedar Valley in the same breath as Iqaluit, a place so remote even access to basic foods is expensive, is absurd. I know you don't know where any of these places are.
- lstamour 6y ago
  Counter point: Georgetown ON has great internet, Halton Hills, not so much. And it’s a 10 minute drive from Mississauga... So it’s easy on a rural road even near a big city to have very, very few options if the cable company didn’t bother to run a wire down your particular street. Not sure if it has changed since, but here’s another example: https://www.theifp.ca/news-story/8404569-xplornet-north-halton-one-of-the-hardest-areas-in-canada-to-bring-high-speed-internet/ https://www.theifp.ca/news-story/8404569-xplornet-north-halt... I imagine we’ll hear fewer stories like this within 5 years now, but it’s been a long time coming — even if you have LTE service, it’s not cheap enough for data-hungry TVs and PCs.
  - def8cefe 6y ago
    There are less options than the city in Halton Hills for sure but they still have access to LTE, DSL and sometimes cable. My point isn't that these areas are fine and don't need better service, my point is they should not be compared to truly remote areas without even basic cell service (there are a lot of these if you drive north about 6 hours). Getting annoying that people are trying to rebut a claim I didn't make when all I'm doing is bitching about the CBC in keeping with Canadian tradition.

by LAMike 6y ago

def8cefe 6y ago

From your name you live in LA. I live in and know the area I am talking about. Thanks for the suggestion. As for household income proximity to Toronto is an indicator of wealth in itself. I don't mean this in a belittling way, but if you are from California your concept of 'remote' is vastly different to ours in Ontario, where we have less than half the population in ~2.5x the landmass, and that population is mostly in the Toronto area. Now imagine what 'remote' must mean in the less populated provinces and territories (Ontario is the most populated province).

def8cefe 6y ago

Just commenting again to try and make it up to all the people who buried my other reply. Let me go a bit more in depth. > It's not an environmental thing that gets transferred by geography so comparing the commute distance doesn't make sense. Proximity to Canada's economic and telecommunications hub (Toronto) does in fact influence access to the Internet. >More accurate correlation would be household income in the neighborhoods there is lack of Internet. There is access to the Internet in the two communities I mentioned, which is why I brought it up in the first place. The access isn't as good as downtown Toronto or some areas in the suburbs, but in comparison to actual remote areas it is fantastic. My entire point in the comment that you replied to is mentioning Barrie and Cedar Valley in the same breath as Iqaluit, a place so remote even access to basic foods is expensive, is absurd. I know you don't know where any of these places are.

lstamour 6y ago
Counter point: Georgetown ON has great internet, Halton Hills, not so much. And it’s a 10 minute drive from Mississauga... So it’s easy on a rural road even near a big city to have very, very few options if the cable company didn’t bother to run a wire down your particular street. Not sure if it has changed since, but here’s another example: https://www.theifp.ca/news-story/8404569-xplornet-north-halton-one-of-the-hardest-areas-in-canada-to-bring-high-speed-internet/ https://www.theifp.ca/news-story/8404569-xplornet-north-halt... I imagine we’ll hear fewer stories like this within 5 years now, but it’s been a long time coming — even if you have LTE service, it’s not cheap enough for data-hungry TVs and PCs.
- def8cefe 6y ago
  There are less options than the city in Halton Hills for sure but they still have access to LTE, DSL and sometimes cable. My point isn't that these areas are fine and don't need better service, my point is they should not be compared to truly remote areas without even basic cell service (there are a lot of these if you drive north about 6 hours). Getting annoying that people are trying to rebut a claim I didn't make when all I'm doing is bitching about the CBC in keeping with Canadian tradition.