Seaside, Where Are You?

I was suppose to do my second report at CTV Morning Live's community correspondent for the Oxford area but just as our time slot came up...
...my satellite internet connection died.
This delayed my debut two weeks ago and we called Seaside High Speed several times about what is actually an ongoing issue of spotty connection. Left several messages but no one at Seaside has called back.
It was very disappointing to miss that moment this morning especially since we were going to talk about the OREC Lady Golden Bears winning the Division 4 provincial basketball championship this past weekend. I'd even called the coach at 7:20 am to ask him to send a photo to the host I'd be speaking with.
This is an important gig and people were relying on me this morning but because of Seaside's poor service, I failed them. Not a good position for a perfectionist to be in!
Making sure everyone in rural Nova Scotia had access to broadband was one of the smarter government initiatives; it has made a huge difference to me as someone who works from home half the week and uses email and the Internet for my freelance work. So getting spotty connection, something that's just become an issue in the last two months (just in time to get asked to be on TV!) affects my ability to do my work efficiently in rural Nova Scotia. In this day and age, there is no need for anyone in rural NS to not be able to do whatever work online they want but we need reliable service -- and a company we can count on to take our service needs seriously.
That's the downside of the broadband initiative: It's a monopoly. Three companies were given an area each to which to provide service. Ours comes via satellite. There is no other way for us to get high speed Internet in our area than through Seaside High Speed. So what can I do when they don't respond to our complaints, when I can't get better, reliable service that allows me to fulfill my own work promises? It was embarassing this morning to not be able to give Cyril Lunney what he wanted. It messes up his part of the show and makes me look unprofessional.
Seaside, you let me down. Again. But I guess you know this today because my husband -- who is my biggest supporter, manager and pit-bull-when-wife-is-crossed -- will be calling you.
CTV is owned by Bell. Maybe Cyril can convince his boss to run a broadband line to my house and I can say bye-bye to the satellite! Too bad I'm not a celebrity community correspondent -- might have more clout. Looks like I'm stuck with Seaside.
For now.