How high speed internet makes a big difference for Northern businesses
Rannva Simonsen is a business woman and fashion designer in Apex, just outside of Iqaluit in Nunavut. While Cross Country Checkup was recording live on location in Iqaluit, our producers met with Simonsen for the show's taping on March 6, 2016.
Like many small business owners in rural parts of the country, Simonsen is dependent on an unreliable internet connection for her work. As she explains to Checkup guest host Susan McReynolds, this lack of connectivity can result in hours of frustration with wait times sometimes extending into days at a time.
Susan McReynolds: You're a businesswoman and a fashion designer. How do you deal with your internet demands in the North?
Rannva Simonsen: I deal with it as I can. I have the best package in town, which is very, very slow. I have to take more time to do all of the things I have to do.
When I go down south and I experienced the fast speed that you have, it just floors me. I can do things in five minutes that otherwise take half an hour or I give up. Sometimes there are things I could have done in fifteen minutes that take me three days because I have to get emails and then figure out something online.
It's tricky. I try not to waste my time worrying about it, but appreciate what I have.
SM: We were saying sometimes internet connectivity is a need, and sometimes it's actually a want. In your case do you think it's a need for you to be an effective businesswoman?
RS: Yes, I would say it's a need. It gives the business an edge and if I had better Internet, I would have a better edge—as would all of the businesses in Nunavut.
It would give Canada an edge if everyone who needed Internet had access to fast-speed internet. You can get information, you can send information, you can communicate really quickly when it's available, and it's just amazing when it works.
Rannva Simonsen's and Susan McReynolds' comments have been edited and condensed. This online segment was prepared by Champagne Choquer.
Prior to air Rannva Simonsen told us that because internet connectivity is so slow in Nunavut, she will wait until she visits southern Canada to update her computer and cellphone apps. For Simonsen, that means updating apps requires a three-hour flight to Ottawa where high-speed internet is readily available. Simonsen told us she takes these trips a few times a year.