Cherryville residents could ultimately be burning up the information highway.
The Regional District of North Okanagan continues to try and get high-speed Internet service for Cherryville and parts of rural Lumby.
“Kids are told in school to go home and do their homework online and they can’t because of dial-up,” said director Eugene Foisy.
“More than 24 per cent of our community is small and home-based business and the lack of high-speed Internet impacts their ability to deal with government and customers.”
A dependence on dial-up Internet has also led to some people refusing to move to Cherryville.
“Real estate people have lost sales because of it,” said Foisy.
RDNO has been considering the feasibility of the service with assistance from Telus.
“We’re waiting for all of the numbers to see if we can move ahead,” said Foisy.
One possibility for funding the necessary infrastructure is a joint initiative between Telus, the community and the federal government.
The Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust recently provided $100,000 towards the effort.
Foisy isn’t sure when a decision will be made on proceeding with high-speed Internet.
“It has to be financially feasible. If the numbers are too high, it won’t fly,” he said.
