If you think your internet is bad now, imagine what it was like 22 years ago.
That's when Muskoka Community Network first started advocating for broadband in our underserviced areas.
It was a passion project that has done great good over more than two decades, but now it's shuttering its doors.
Money, or the lack of it, seems to be at the heart of the decision to close as its application for core operational funding, previously provided by FedNor, has been rejected.
In recent years, the network's focus changed, in part, to helping businesses adopt technology and its range expanded to include Parry Sound, thus the change of name to the Parry Sound Muskoka Community Network.
The network has advocated for business and innovation, working with entrepreneurs, high school students and helping to launch the founders circles, where local business people come together to fund an annual prize up to $15,000 for the best new business in each region.
It became a go-between, have great input on where FedNor dollars go and as such distributed more than $10 million in federal money to 800 local businesses and organizations.
Through the first year of the pandemic, it processed three times its normal grant volume, helped set up the Muskoka Economic Recovery Taskforce and participated in the West Parry Sound Economic Development Collaborative's steering committee. Now though, its part in distributing Business Technology Improvement Fund grants has been determined to overlap with the Business Development Bank of Canada.
It isn't that FedNor has closed the tap on funds to this region; just weeks ago $5,800,000 was announced to support 13 community and business growth initiatives.
But going back to our original statement, wide swaths of Muskoka still do not have adequate, affordable internet — something most of the world considers a human right.
About 20 per cent of Muskoka homes have, at best, substandard internet. There are people still living the nightmare of dial up. Most of these homes are in rural areas or in difficult topography. The network started with actual internet installation, building towers but says the big players like Bell and Starlink are too involved in recent years for it to make sense for a local group to have boots on the ground putting in infrastructure.
Big business has never been adept at solving the problems of rural people in remote locations and we're concerned that the need for affordable, quality internet across Muskoka will continue to go unaddressed. Without advocacy on the part of a non-profit, all levels of government need to be the voice of Muskoka in making sure everyone here has the internet they need at a price they can afford.
