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Mackenzie

Mackenzie residents struggle with slow internet speeds

Jan 24, 2023 | 5:33 PM

MACKENZIE – If you live near or in one of BC’s urban centres, you may be used to loading the internet in a matter of seconds, if you live in rural Northern BC loading one simple page can take a lot longer.

Mackenzie is not alone in the battle for better connectivity, the further you stray from Prince George city limits the more it becomes a challenge.

According to a report done for the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George in 2021, almost all surrounding communities struggled to meet the benchmark download speed of 25 megabytes per second.

For reference, internet speeds in Prince George can range from 25 to over 100 megabytes per second for downloading.

According to SpeedTest.net, the median download speed for BC is nearly 90 mb/s for mobile, while fixed is over 175 mb/s.

There is optimism going forward for rural residents, whether it is the pricey solution of Starlink created by Elon Musk, or funding to expand infrastructure.

Joan Atkinson, Mayor of Mackenzie said she believes some of the problems can be solved in 2023.

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