(Submitted photo/ SaskTel)

By Nigel Maxwell

Technology

High speed upgrade proposal receives poor signal from rate payers; council agrees to wait

Dec 15, 2020 | 1:02 PM

A proposed plan which would offer high speed internet for the rate payers in the District of Lakeland, is facing further opposition from the people who would be forced to pay for it.

A petition, with over 300 signatures, was presented during Monday’s council meeting. There was also a handful of letters from rate payers who requested to be exempted from the plan.

In accordance with the crown’s community participation program, the amount owed to SaskTel will be shared amongst the 1,900 property owners, which works out to roughly $600 each, but can be paid up front, over five years, or 10 years.

“We are continuing to work with them on alternatives” _{– SaskTel}

Despite green lighting the proposal at last month’s meeting, paving the way for construction to start in the spring, council decided it was best to hold off and will discuss the matter again at their next meeting in January.

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The decision last month by council followed a mail-out survey in August which had a 55 per cent response rate. From that 48 per cent were in favour of the proposal, and 52 per cent were against.

The petition

The petition’s creator Gwen Smith declined to speak to paNOW but according to a post on the online petition, said the ratepayers of Lakeland do not want to be forced to pay for outdated Sasktel DSL internet service and believe other services should be investigated and allowed to bid on supplying this service.

“The RM has went against a survey for the service. The survey showed the residents were against being forced to pay for outdated service,” she said.

A number of other people who signed the petition have also explained their reasons why.

One woman wrote “this should be an investment Sasktel pay for, not the taxpayer. We are taxed enough.” Another man said his family was signing because they did not believe the Reeve and council acted in good faith and have “gone against the wishes of the majority of rate payers.”

In addition to the petition, council also received seven letters from concerned rate payers. Alex Juorio was among them and explained to paNOW he was not against the idea of bringing high speed internet to the district, but felt the plan being offered by SaskTel was not a good one.

Juorio’s interpretation was rate payers will be offered speeds less than one-fifth of that what the CRC defines as high speed.

“I can do faster than that on my cell phone and hot spot it and use a computer,” he said

Council agrees to wait

Administrator Tammy Knuttila has previously answered questions with relation to why the District chose SaskTel as the provider and not pursued another option.

She explained the communities with permanent populations of 1,000 are located in the Far North, don’t qualify for grant money, and are also not considered a big draw for companies. She also explained SaskTel was the only option that offered hard wiring to homes, while the others were weather dependant.

Speaking with paNOW on Tuesday, Knuttila advised council has decided to hold off on proceeding any further until they’ve had the chance to do more consultation with Sasktel as well as investigate possible grant options.

With respect to the petition, Knuttila said the petition does not meet the requirements of the municipalities act, which could force referendum or a public meeting. She explained in order for the petition to be considered valid it must be a signed by a witness and the signees would have to indicate full names, as well as how they are entitle to sign this petition, such as addresses.

“On the petition some of them were just like first name, last initial, from Canada,” she said, adding there were other signees from different places all over the world.

That being said, Knuttila explained there were enough valid signatures on the petition to get council to take a second look at it and further discussion is expected at the January meeting.

Reeve Walter Plessl was not available for comment on Tuesday. However when interviewed by paNOW last month, Plessl defended council’s decision to greenlight the construction, and explained investment in this type of infrastructure was the way to go in this day and age.

“With everything changing in this world today, and meetings going virtual, and more and more people coming out to the lake, and for the most part living there, it only makes sense to spend that money,” he said.

Plessl also said he anticipated the move would help drive up property values, and added was important for rate payers to know that future upgrades will be paid for on SaskTel’s dime.

“This is a benefit to each and every rate payer that is out there and it was a very big decision for council but I believe that, and obviously the rest of [council] believes it was the right move,” he said.

Response from Sasktel

SaskTel’s community participation program is offered to locations which would not typically meet the company’s for-profit business plan. When asked on Tuesday to provide comment, a spokesperson for Sasktel informed paNOW an official agreement has not been finalized yet with the District of Lakeland council.

“We are continuing to work with them on alternatives and it is entirely up to them to make a decision on proceeding based on their residents requirements/concerns,” the statement said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell