The City of Toronto is developing a pilot project, ConnectTO, to provide gigabit, fiber-to-the-premises Internet, in neighbourhoods most impacted by COVID-19. If the pilot succeeds, the city will consider expansion. The city seeks outside parties to build and run this network. We want to see this initiative succeed and grow to become a credit to our city. We want this network to respect privacy, follow standards, and deliver multi-gigabit speeds at affordable prices to everyone. We are assembling a coalition of civic-minded groups and individuals. Our aim is to work together, gather the community's collective wisdom, pool resources, and, together, bid to run the city's network. Interested? Contact us: tfnl-connectto-discuss@torfree.net 416 204 9257 www.torfree.net Or join our teleconference, this coming Thursday at 7 pm: when: Thu 15 Apr 2021 19:00 where: zoom meeting ID: 86145956197 passcode: 590781 by web browser: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86145956197?pwd=OU9xQTMzRmNLWlRzSlB1V2t6dkdQZz09 by telephone: 647 374 4685 647 558 0588 Some background information: The City of Toronto's plans for ConnectTO. * http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.EX20.8 * https://www.toronto.ca/news/connectto-program-aims-to-increase-digital-equit... * https://www.toronto.ca/news/city-council-approves-program-to-increase-access... The 2008 sale of Toronto Hydro's fiber. The city has entered this world before: in the early 2000s, Toronto Hydro laid ~400 km of fiber in the downtown core. Toronto Hydro was then instructed to sell off those assets. The fiber was purchased by a commercial Internet provider in 2008. * https://corpo.cogeco.com/cca/en/press-room/press-releases/cogeco-cable-acqui... Toronto Free-Net's aims. We believe that a city's Internet infrastructure, whether underground or aerial, should be considered a utility, like tap water and sewers. Fiber plant and backhaul should be kept under democratic control and run with an open, transparent, not-for-profit mindset. We want to ensure that: * gigabit speeds to the premises finally become a reality across Toronto. * prices are kept proportional to real costs, not inflated artificially. * a basic level of access is provided to all, at a nominal or zero price, so that Internet-based services, essential to daily life, are always reachable, even by the most disadvantaged. * the network is not absorbed by commercial, monopoly interests. * private communications (Internet traffic) are respected, not monetized nor infringed in other ways. * open, standardized protocols are obeyed, not gamed for competitive advantage. We also want to: * Strengthen citizens and organizations who want a free, open, transparent Internet -- nurture their capabilities and foster communication and cooperation. * Inspire the public to treat the online world and the technological infrastructure which enables it as a public commons, essential to Canadian democracy, rather than as mere products, obtained through commercial transactions. Who we are. Toronto Free-Net is a non-profit and Toronto's oldest surviving Internet provider, founded in 1993. EOF