For Immediate Release
2003-11-12
For further information contact:
Jim MacPherson, Coordinator, Land O' Lakes Communications Network, E-mail: jimmac@frontenac.net, Phone: (613) 279-3737, Fax: (613) 279-3738
RURAL BROADBAND NETWORK CONDUCTS NEEDS SURVEY
COMMUNITY PARTNERS AIM TO BOOST HIGH-SPEED NETWORKING
The Land O' Lakes Communications Network (LOLCN) - the non-profit organization seeking to advance telecommunications services across Frontenac and Lennox & Addington counties - is asking businesses and residents to speak up for improved Internet access in rural areas.
Backed by the two counties, as well as the Town of Greater Napanee, the City of Kingston, regional school boards, hospitals and libraries, the LOLCN is encouraging those who live or operate businesses in rural areas of those municipalities to take an online survey that will help create an inventory of current and future Internet-access needs in the Land O' Lakes area.
Information collected through the survey will become part of a business plan the LOLCN is currently preparing in order to obtain Industry Canada funds in support of high speed broadband services for rural residents and businesses.
Surveys for businesses and residents is available online at this Web address: www.rural.ca.
Under the Broadband for Rural Areas and Northern Development (BRAND) pilot program, Industry Canada has selected LOLCN's proposal as one of 89 out of 222 proposals across Canada that are qualified to request funding. If successful, the Government of Canada could provide several million dollars to assist LOLCN in building high-speed broadband infrastructure in the municipalities.
"The survey is an important part of our business plan for Industry Canada," says LOLCN Coordinator Jim MacPherson, at the network's Sharbot Lake-based office. "Strong support is needed from residents and businesses in the counties in order to make an effective case before Industry Canada." The LOLCN is asking participants to complete the survey - which takes just a few minutes - by Monday, Nov. 17.
Individuals don't have access to the Internet at home, may use an Internet-connected computer at their local library to complete the survey.
Any personal information collected through the survey, which takes just a few minutes too complete, will be kept confidential and it will be used by LOLCN only to develop its broadband network plans.
ABOUT THE LOLCN
LOLCN is a not-for-profit consortium of information technology users in the Frontenac-Lennox & Addington counties, the Town of Greater Napanee and the City of Kingston.
The LOLCN's current stakeholders include: Lennox & Addington County, Frontenac County, the Town of Greater Napanee, the City of Kingston, the Limestone District School Board, the Algonquin and Lakeshore District Catholic School Board, the Hotel Dieu Hospital, Providence Continuing Care Centre, the Lennox & Addington Public Library and the Kingston-Frontenac Public Library.
ABOUT BRAND
More information on Industry Canada's BRAND program is available here: www.broadband.gc.ca.
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