La Ronge area Access Communications subscribers could see a substantial upgrade in internet speed in the new year.
Currently, La Ronge subscribers are limited to a download speed of 15 megabytes per second while many similar size communities in the province have 50 megabytes per second.
The low capacity makes it difficult to stream things like high definition sports.
However, Access CEO Jim Deane said the cooperative is currently in negotiations with its supplier SaskTel to bring in 50 mbps service and possibly even greater.
“The CRTC has come out and defined broad band internet access as an essential service,” he said. “I happen to agree with that and they have defined that as 50 megabytes down. Now that’s a little bit aspirational for a lot of Canada but I don’t disagree with that either. We’re looking to provide at least that, and hopefully in our case, probably increase that by a factor of four or five or six in terms of what we’re able to offer in your community.”
Deane says La Ronge area subscribers could see download speeds as high as 300 mbps in the near future.
He says the upgrades will not affect subscriber rates.
(PHOTO: Courtesy Access Communications Facebook page.)