He lives in north Clarington, too far north to receive high-speed Internet service available to most of the rest of the municipality and too far south to hook into high speed available out of Millbrook.

And he says he's not alone, estimating that upwards of 5,200 Clarington residents who live in rural areas like he does, aren't able to get high speed Internet at a reasonable price.

"It's becoming more and more of a necessity," he said, noting his kids' school assignments often require Internet access.

Mr. Baetsen said he was hopeful when he heard about a CRTC ruling ordering the nation's telephone companies to spend more than $300 million to provide broadband to a long list of rural communities across Canada. But his area wasn't on the list. The only area of Clarington included in the order was Newtonville. But being on the list was only half the battle -- the issue was appealed and is now tied up in court, so the service providers haven't had to move forward with expanding the service.

According to information from the CRTC, the Federal court denied the appeal, but put a stay on the CRTC's order. The stay remains in place until it is determined whether the Supreme Court will hear the case. If the Supreme Court does agree to hear it, the stay will remain in place until that level makes a decision.

It makes no sense not to be able to receive a high-speed connection, said Mr. Baetsen.

"We can't get it and we're in the GTA," he said. "You can drive 10 or 20 minutes north and you can."

He's called on all levels of government since he moved to the area almost a decade ago to look into the matter, but has only heard back from the municipal level, which told him only that it was a federal matter.

It's a matter of finding balance between ensuring residents have the service they want and being fair to the telephone companies, said Durham MP Bev Oda.

"Some of the assessment is done on population density, so they're not being overly onerous on the provider," said Ms. Oda.

Both Mr. Baetsen and Ms. Oda say there is high-speed access, via satellite, but the cost has made it unwieldy for most residents. Mr. Baetsen said it would be upwards of $150 a month to receive high speed, as it stands.

"You can get it, but it's costly," said Ms. Oda.