RURAL CONNECTIVITY TASK FORCE FINAL REPORT

Introduction: APAS and Rural Connectivity

Rural Connectivity Task Force members (left to right): Ian Boxall, Bev Pirio, Jeremy Welter, Bill Prybylski (missing: Paige Stewart).

Rural Connectivity Task Force members (left to right): Ian Boxall, Bev Pirio, Jeremy Welter, Bill Prybylski (missing: Paige Stewart).

The Task Force is charged with researching the technological and regulatory barriers to improving rural internet and cellular service and developing policy recommendations to address them.

APAS began working on the issue of connectivity in 2019, when we surveyed our members about their internet and cellular service levels.

At that time, most survey respondents told us they were dissatisfied with their service and experienced disruptions daily and sometimes several times a day.

Shortly after our initial survey closed the COVID-19 pandemic began, resulting in the move to remote work and education for families across Saskatchewan in the spring of 2020.

This added enormous pressure to the already inadequate connectivity infrastructure in the province. The internet simply could not keep up.

In July 2020, APAS launched a second survey to gather information about how COVID-19 was affecting rural internet and cellular service.

It quickly became clear that the problem of rural connectivity was made much worse by the pandemic.

More needed to be done, and urgently. So, in September 2020 APAS launched the Rural Connectivity Task Force (RCTF).

Charged with researching the technological and regulatory barriers to improving rural internet and cellular service and developing policy recommendations to address them, the RCTF is made up of five agricultural producers from across the province:

  • Jeremy Welter, Chair, Kerrobert SK
  • Ian Boxall, Tisdale SK
  • Bev Pirio, Radville SK
  • Bill Prybylski, Willowbrook SK
  • Paige Stewart, Fillmore SK

Following six months of research and interviews, the RCTF has now completed the research phase of the project. Included in this final report are the Task Force’s recommendations and supporting background information.

From September 2020 to February 2021, the RCTF met with key experts and service providers in the telecommunications industry, including:

Experts

  • Craig Dobson, MBA, Taylor Warwick Consulting Limited
  • Michael McNally, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB
  • Reza Rajabiun, PhD, Research Fellow, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Toronto ON
  • Gregory Taylor, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, Media and Film at the University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Service Providers

  • SaskTel
  • Access Communications
  • FlexNetworks
  • Telesat
  • Wood River Controls
  • Redbird Communications
  • KRAKR
  • Gopher Net

In addition to meeting the key players, the RCTF wanted to develop a better understanding of existing internet service levels across the province. In other words, is rural internet as bad as we think?

To this end, APAS partnered with the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) to develop an Internet Speed Test for Saskatchewan.

The test, which launched in September 2020 and has had over 26,000 tests completed to date, is a quick and easy way for individuals to see how fast their internet is in real-time.

It calculates download speed, upload speed, and latency, and can be repeated multiple times to see how internet speeds vary at different times of day or week, or in different locations on a property.

Take the APAS Internet Speed Test at apas.ca/speedtest.

The Internet Speed Test completions to date show that over half of test takers are experiencing download speeds of less than 10 Mbps, which is only a fraction of the 50 Mbps considered to be a sufficient internet speed for Canadians.

Another goal of the RCTF is to improve public awareness and understanding of poor rural connectivity amongst the general public.

To help achieve this, APAS is partnering with Access Communications to produce Connecting Saskatchewan, a 60-minute television show focused on rural connsectivity, which will be broadcast province-wide in Spring 2021.

The importance of good rural connectivity cannot be overstated. Over the past two years, hundreds of rural residents have reached out to APAS to share their stories and frustration over what they see as unreliable and unaffordable internet service.

Many people report not getting the internet service levels they are paying for, and that their businesses, education, health and safety, and overall quality of life is negatively impacted by poor service, especially during COVID-19.

Going forward, APAS will continue to advocate for solutions to address this critical issue facing rural Saskatchewan.

One of the greatest takeaways from this project is learning how much potential there is for Saskatchewan’s technology sector to serve our provincial agriculture industry.

Learn more about APAS