The First Mile

Supported by the SSHRC-funded First Nations Innovation Project

Hi Brian, I received your email and am posting to introduce myself and a brief overview of the connectivity here on Tyendinaga (near Deseronto, Ontario).

We are the third largest territory in Ontario. We have high speed internet available from the local town to maybe 1/4 of the households.

None of the Band infrastructure buildings have wired high-speed access. The local schools (3) have access to a T1 line provided by KNET through a wireless network that we built. Without this valuable service from KNET these schools probably would not have the access they have now.

At the time we started this project (2004) Bell Canada wanted $250,000 to install the T1 at the school due to "construction costs", plus a cost of $3000/month for the line itself.

We have been asking for high speed access for the general public on the territory since 2000, but so far we have none.

In 2009 the band initiated installing their own fibre network, we are way overdue for this service. I hope the currently initiatives by the telco's do not interfere with the band project!

Kevin Maracle
First Nations Technical Institute
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory
Deseronto Ontario