David,

This Tuesday, February 2, Toronto City Council is considering something HUGE: Community-owned. Fibre. Broadband. 🤯

This historic proposal would see Toronto build its own municipal broadband Internet network, connecting over a million people who’ve been left behind by high prices and subpar speeds from Big Telecom.1

I can’t stress this enough: Community broadband is the best way to bring cheaper, better Internet to everyone in Toronto.2 But Big Telecom’s lobbyists are fast — so we need to be faster. Will you email City Council RIGHT NOW asking them to say yes to Community Broadband?

EMAIL MY COUNCILLOR

Toronto’s the biggest city in Canada — but under Big Telecom’s oligopoly, over a million residents STILL aren’t being properly served.3

In fact, a brand new study just found 2 out of 5 TO households don’t have home Internet that meets Canada’s national speed target.4 The same study also found a whopping 1/3 of households are worried about how they’ll pay their Internet bills in 2021.5

We have the CRTC, the government, and their misplaced trust in Big Telecom to thank for this gigantic failure.6 If Big Telecom can't adequately connect Canada's largest and densest city — then what hope does the rest of the country have? 

It’s time for a new approach: Community-owned broadband.

Where it’s been implemented, community broadband has given people cheaper Internet prices, power to choose their providers, and blazing-fast speeds on state-of-the-art fibre infrastructure.7 And best of all? NOBODY is left behind.

Better, cheaper Internet is so close, I can smell it. But we only have a few days to get the city’s attention before it’s too late. Will you email Toronto City Council NOW telling them to support the community broadband proposal?

EMAIL CITY COUNCIL NOW

Thanks for all that you do,

Erin at OpenMedia

Sources

  1. Agenda Item: Affordable Internet for All - City of Toronto
  2. Want Faster, Cheaper Internet? Let’s Build It - OpenMedia
  3. Mapping Toronto’s Digital Divide - Ryerson Leadership Lab
  4. See 3
  5. See 3
  6. Toronto’s Broadband Plan an Indictment of CRTC’s Delay on Affordable Internet - The Star
  7. Hope Springs Municipal: How Small Towns are Driving Canada’s Digital Future - OpenMedia

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