High speed for all

It's slow, it's frustrating and people hate to use it. Dial-up Internet service is still the only option for many New Brunswickers who want access to what some people now take for granted.

And it's not just people in rural areas who have to tie up their phone lines to connect to the Internet.

Millbank resident Kara Clark lives within Miramichi city limits and still can't get high-speed Internet service from Aliant or Rogers.

Clark said she pays for city services and should be able to live like she is in the city. "I don't think it's right."

Her house is only about a half mile from high-speed service and a one-minute drive away from the Douglastown Wal-Mart, she said.

"We're not even really rural."

Clark said Aliant told her it would cost too much to run the line to her home and Rogers doesn't service her area, either.

"We don't have anything down here."

The Canadian Internet Project released a report this fall that showed 40 per cent of Canadians are heavy Internet users who surf the web 15 hours or more a week.

Clark pays Aliant extra for an accelerator, which she said is supposed to provide a faster connection.

"I think it's a waste of money."

With her husband out west, Clark said she goes to her mother's to upload pictures on Facebook for him.

"That's how I send pictures of the kids."

Whenever she wants to add pictures, Clark said she has to make a special day to go to her mother's.

"He likes to see them."

Clark said the first time she tried to upload pictures at home for her husband, she left the computer on all night.

"It did not happen."

Jamie Weatherbee also lives within the city limits and has to suffer through the long waits of dial-up.

He said he only uses it at home to check his e-mail.

"It's far too frustrating."

Weatherbee runs a small web hosting and computer repair business out of his home, but doesn't send anything business related from there, he said.

"It can be quite painful."

Sarah Ross lives in Bouctouche, but visits her parents in Barryville on weekends and will soon move home.

She said it's frustrating because when she is back in Barryville she asks if she can use her friends' computers so she can go online.

"They think, gee, why are you still on dial-up."

It takes about three minutes for the modem to connect, the browser to open and for her to sign in to Facebook.

She said websites aren't built for dial-up any more and she laughed at the thought of browsing pictures on Facebook.

"It takes way too long."

When she is home, Ross said she has to commit 20 minutes to do a search in Google, but when she is in Bouctouche her computer is on all the time.

"There's no second thought about it."

Wayne Brideau also has dial-up because he lives about four kilometres away from a high-speed Internet connection.

He said he uses it almost every day, but it freezes about two to three times a week.

"Sometimes it's just not worth the effort."

Although he loves where he lives, Brideau said he wishes he had the same service as people who live closer to the city.

"I think it's kind of maddening that it's so close."

Brideau said he called Internet service providers and they put him on a waiting list, but they didn't give a timeframe for when they will be looking into extending the service to his area.

"I kind of gave up calling after a while."

Edwina Matchett lives in an area not served by Aliant or Rogers so she went with a satellite service through Xplornet instead.

Matchett said she used the service at work and it was great, at first.

"It was wonderful."

In July she got it at home so she could free up her phone lines, but said some days she can't even get online because it kicks her off so often.

"It has its advantages, but it's not all it's cracked up to be."

Matchett said she pays $49.99 for the service, but there are more expensive plans to get faster service, which they have at work.

"It doesn't work any better than my low package at home."

To use the service, customers have to buy a satellite dish on top of fees to get it installed, activated and for the service itself.

Xplornet technicians told her more people are buying the service and making it slower, she said.

"The rural areas are selling, selling, selling them," she said.

Angele Palmer considered satellite service from Aliant for her business, but said she doesn't want to pay more for the service than other people pay for regular high-speed.

"To me that's not fair."

Palmer is an insurance agent for Stanley Mutual Insurance and takes about 70- 90 pictures a day, but she said she can't send more than three or four at a time.

"That means I have to spend half an evening."

Evan Palmer has the same problem with his business Ev's Diesel Inc.

Evan said he sends pictures by email for warranties and he also places orders for parts online because he gets a discount that way.

"It makes it a little bit miserable."

It takes him about 20 minutes to place an order using dial-up, but when he uses high-speed it's almost instantaneous, he said.

"You just touch the button it's gone."

New Maryland-Sunbury West Progressive Conservative candidate Jack Carr filed a human rights complaint against Aliant, Rogers and the Province of New Brunswick because he said not all residents of New Brunswick are being treated fairly.

In a news release, Carr said rural residents are being discriminated against and people without highspeed Internet access are at a competitive disadvantage.

"People's only option is to pay hundreds of dollars for satellite Internet, which is not fair when in some cases the family down the street can pay the basic fee through Aliant and Rogers."

People shouldn't have to pay more to get their new computer downgraded to accept dial-up, he said.