The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

f H _ R ural res idents Bag-e r to tap Internet expansion guccessful tender awarded to Barrett Xplore, Inc, ofNew ' . I, . runswrck, the county plans to use the extra money to 2k / Ctrttrs "vt' Mi” #0 Cv-Fu r expand the coverage area in Northumberland. Paul Dalby f-t.b _ /7/0 , a Mod of calls. "Barrett Xplore will be putting up a minimum of In new i PlMUimNmlEWstjtl “preople are interested in broadband, they can call this towers," Mr. Pyatt said, "but they will put up whatever County headquarters has been swamped with phone number and be put on the waiting list," county CAO Bill they have to in order to guarantee coverage," _ _ _ calls from rural residents eager to sign up for the new Pyatt said. "They can also find out what the schedule is for The extra funds could expand coverage of the new net- high-speed Internet service being rolled out this summer, broadband coming to their area." . work from 90 per cent to 95 per cent of rural Northumher. . Amew customer service hotline - (966) 841-6001 - has Mr. Pyatt said the county expects to sign the final can land north oinghway 401. _ been opened up by the broadband service contractor tracts with the province this week to access the $976,833 _ Xplornet (Barrett Xplore. Inc.) to take all future phone in- obtained through the Rural Connections Broadband Pro- See 'Broadband' on Page 7 , quiries after the county switchboard in Cobourg received gram, As this will be about $200,000 more than the final " ' ascii-i-iii?] st-f-ara-bra-ir, a Experience the Servicing Dealer ""2"ik p , 137.33%. till.. lamp ttst Sis 3: we 3 “3%?" shit, Eicifjittiiiit mm" “m ’ " difference. Not only Will your saw - , “ 'em" $42995 . T h ia'i'rtiFiriiiiriis?,igt"tu $32995 be ready to use, but our friendly q , 1iii 'crPPN ' I WI“. l 'lrMBtiimtrt "N asTlHLchall‘ 1IlMNll8rMiir Itll ‘ staff Will make sure you know _ _ Farm s" I ltd _ STIHLJ l I IllIlliillll ‘ how to start it easily and use it , " " LI Was I". ll I T [ www.stihl.ca _ '_. _- a, safely. Plus, we service what - , _ I“, $5429 -, can ttt1Mtd.8tt,mnatoa,mmmtmtmmt _ . f Ct", e, i I till-Ire, we sell -. guaranteed! ICI a at? I apmd2'rl1 q . ' Salas " tttttttiM 1'l')l/Jlrl','2'a1, ' . ‘ . Ngttim"pomrtisl - _ V w _ mm 653-35.“ . mm 653'5359 t ‘ HI mutation 1gVtrtsarsfbal1sspngesatea1 etteehtakhtmwyN.200g, _ -lgealttrtmmosrtam _ _ _ _ "---------------------, Cnnllnuedlmm Page I "The broadband service will be of DSL quality," said Mr. with dial-up. Broadband will make a big t1itrerence to us." _ . Davie, adding that Barrett Xplore may face some challenges When Ms, Workman has completed one of her still life Bolt Davie, general manager of Barrett Xplore, told The getting a signal "over the odd hill or through a row of dense paintings on commission, she likes to send an image to her Independent that engineering work to construct the new trees," clientto let them know ithas been completed. . network will likely start in late April andbe completed by the The county’s rolling terrain and signincant tree cover, "But I have to th1d some other way to do it because it would end ofthe year. combined with relatively low population density, have dis- take hours on my dial-up service," said Ms, Workman, net. "We want to start as soon as weather permits," he said, soul-aged other major Internet providers from servicing the ebrating 27 years as a professional artist. F "because every day counts in lighting up the subscribers." area, As a result, many residents and businesses either have Her works are displayed exclusively in Toronto at the Ruth : Mr. Davie said the new service will be a mixed network no Internet access or are restricted to slow dial-up CXgr1I1tKy ens Gallery and in Ottawa at Gallerie St. Laurent Plus Hill _ . - fibre optic cables piggy-backing on Hydro One networks tions. Noted artist-organic farmer Lenni Workman and her but she cannot even host her own Website showcasin her _ spare capacity, linking each of the broadcast towers, The partner Brad Francis, a veteran scenic painter on major paintings. That has to bedone through a communal Wei“ towers will then deliver a wireless signal to a small receiver movie productions have experienced Internet problems. Mt of the Spirit of the Hills artists' group at WWW spirrtotth e on the rooftop of each subscriber’s home and then transport Francis keeps a computer: hooked to high-speed service in truism-g. . g the signal by CATS cable into that person's computer. Toronto for his own business, then travels between city and "It would be great to have my own website as wen Monthly fees will vary according to the type of service our country, . the broadband service gets here," said Ms Work , once chased: $30 monthly for a 0.5 megabyte-per-seeond service, "He wotft bring his computer home to the farm because runs her organic farm in the summer: and a. taman, who $40 for a medium 1.5 mbps; $7080 for a large 5 mbps service. A the dial-up is so slow and unreliable," Ms Workman said. "As out the winter. p m through. _ super service for companies would cost about $150 a month. we are both self-employed. it's been very ditr1cult making do