Bandwidth: Kids Built Their Own Internet Infrastructure A story in Motherboard about how First Mile youth in the built and now operate their own broadband infrastructure. The story points to many other examples of innovation taking place in Indigenous communities across Canada, as showcased on the www.firstmile.ca website. Three years ago, the people living in[…]
On August 21, 2015, the FMCC submitted an intervention to the Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2015-133 Review of Telesat Canada’s price ceiling for C-band fixed satellite services. The FMCC strongly believes that a price ceiling for C-band FSS service remains appropriate because there is no realistic alternative to Telesat to provide FSS service in[…]
As of March 6, 2015, after months of planning, the Telehealth Expansion Project (FNTEP) is set to deploy new clinical telehealth equipment, beginning with Coastal and Interior communities in British Columbia. The telehealth equipment will offer rural communities (such as Anahim Lake, Klemtu, Three Corners, Bella Coola, Hartley Bay and many others) the opportunity to access healthcare[…]
Yesterday (July 14) was the deadline for the first round of input into a historic government CRTC hearings on the Basic Service Objectives for telecommunication services across Canada. The First Mile Connectivity Consortium was one of over 300 organizations and individuals that have entered the hearing before yesterday’s deadline. The hearing, CRTC 2015-134: Review of[…]
On July 14, 2015, the FMCC submitted an intervention to the Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2015-134 Review of basic telecommunications services. We provided evidence demonstrating that the existing model for ensuring that telecommunications services are available and affordable in rural, remote, and northern areas has fallen short of the needs of community members, and[…]
FMCC received the following notice by email today announcing a 2 week extension for the initial interventions from June 30 to July 14. ++++++++++ May 28, 2015 Our reference: 8663-C12-201503186 BY E-MAIL To: Distribution List RE: Review of basic telecommunications services, Telecom Notice of Consultation 2015-1341 – Changes to filing dates On 4 May 2015,[…]
May 28, 2015 The First Mile Connectivity Consortium has received new funding support for policy research on broadband infrastructure and services in rural, remote and northern Indigenous communities. We are thrilled to announce that the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has awarded the FMCC $30,000. These funds will be used to collect evidence to present at the Canadian Radio-Television[…]
The University of Ottawa’s Centre on Governance and the Forum for Research on Policy in Communications (FRPC) are co-sponsoring a policy and law conference on May 22nd and 23rd, 2015, focussing on Canada’s broadcasting and telecommunications legislation. It will examine issues related to communications sovereignty and the use of new content distribution services, the socio-cultural[…]
Vol 10, No 3 (2014) Special Issue: Community Informatics and Urban Planning Table of Contents Editorial Community Informatics in Cities: New Catalysts for Urban Change HTML Liisa Marjatta Horelli, David Sadoway Smart Cities vs. Smart Communities: Empowering Citizens not Market Economics HTML Michael Gurstein Read full Issue
On October 7, 2014, the FMCC submitted a position paper to Industry Canada regarding Policy Changes in the 3500 MHz Band and a New Licensing Process in Rural Areas (Reference number: DGSO-003-14). The paper outlined the benefits of a ‘First Mile’ approach to mobile services and infrastructure in Indigenous, remote and northern communities. It also[…]