Northern B.C. town deprived of internet for at least a month - Action News
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British Columbia

Northern B.C. town deprived of internet for at least a month

No Facebook, no Netflix, no Google, and no email: that will be the reality for the residents of Stewart, B.C., starting on Tuesday for at least one month.

The town's sole internet provider is shutting down

Could you get by without the internet for more than a month? (iStock)

No Facebook, no Netflix, no Googleand no email: that will be the reality for the residents of Stewart, B.C., starting on Tuesday for at least onemonth.

"For me, personally, it's like my life stopped right now," said Stewart Mayor Galina Durant. "My community, including my house and my office,will be without aninternetconnection."

Durantsaid she'sunableto do her banking, complete her online university courses, and evencheck out library books.

Stewart's sole internet provider, OneWayOut, has shut down, leaving Durantand the town's residents with no options to go online.

"The infrastructure required to deliver internet and possibly cell service is extremely expensive to do it effectively Stewart needs a tower that can serve the entire community," said the company on its website.

In September, theB.C. government announced it will spend$10 millionto bring high-speed internetto remoteparts of B.C. aservice the province has called crucial and essential.

The provincial government said it wants to provide everyone in the province with high-speed internet by 2021.

"We fight so hard to get high-speed internet, and we end up without internet at all," said Durant.

Telus and an internetservice providerfrom Terrace will bestepping in to reconnect Stewart, but that connection won't be online for at least four to eight weeks.