This Silicon Valley Executive is Working from His Fibre-Connected Cottage in Rural Quebec

September 14, 2023

Warren Dumanski has lived and worked across North America, but he always returned to his cottage at Otter Lake in rural Quebec whenever he could.

“I love the beauty, solitude and peace we find here, and I never get tired of the view,” he said.

Warren was born in Saskatoon, raised in Ottawa, studied at the University of Waterloo and McMaster in Hamilton and eventually found himself working in telecommunications based in Silicon Valley, California.

“Throughout that entire period, as our kids were growing, we came back to Otter Lake every year for at least a week,” he said.

In his long career in telecom, Warren has learned a lot about Internet technology. That’s why when he discovered he could be getting a fibre Internet connection with Xplore at his home away from home in Otter Lake he was astonished.

“I know what it means to have fibre internet; we have it at our home in California. I knew I could stream whatever I wanted on TV. I knew I was going to have Internet service I could rely on,” he said.

In August of 2022, Warren, his brother and his father were visiting with some friends on the lake. They told him vaguely of a government program in Quebec designed to bring high-speed Internet to underserved homes.

That program is Operation Haute Vitesse. Supported in part by this program, Xplore will connect nearly 33,000 homes and businesses in Val-des-Sources, La Tuque, the MRC Papineau, the MRC Pontiac, and the Gatineau Valley to a fibre network offering gigabit speeds with unlimited data.

“They said, “you’re going to have fibre on your road, Warren!” I said, Oh my gosh... I can’t believe it. The cost of running fibre is enormous but the fact that it’s here in Otter Lake is remarkable to me. Otter Lake is a little bit off the beaten path. It’s a town of 1,000 people and we have fibre here! Unbelievable! I am so thankful. I am blown away,” he explained.

Since April, Warren and his family have been enjoying the fastest Internet technology available right from the deck.

“I’ve got WiFi from here all the way down to my dock. 110 Mbps up and down. It’s working like a charm,” he said.

Warren currently works for a company with headquarters in Bangalore, India. He is the general manager for the North American market.

“I’m working with a team all over North America and video calling on Microsoft Teams. I have a call with my colleagues in Bangalore regularly. My service is so good here, I haven’t changed the way I work one little bit. I’m doing exactly the same things I’m doing in Silicon Valley here at my cottage in Otter Lake. Everything I do here is exactly the same experience for me and all of that is enabled by the fibre,” he said.

He’s also very pleased to be able to stay connected to his children in California using Wi-Fi calling.

“The nearest cell tower is a long way away. Very typically, prior to having Xplore Internet, I would get 1 or 2 bars. Making a voice call would have been really challenging, dropping several times. I would have had to drive into town. Now, I’m using WiFi calling sitting in my cottage and it just works. I want to make sure my kids can reach me if they need help and I can reach them if I need help. For us it’s a night and day difference,” he explained.

With all these services enabled through fibre, Warren and his wife are making plans to live for months at a time in Otter Lake once they’ve retired.

“It’s completely transformed the utility of the cottage. Prior to having the Xplore Internet, it was completely unpredictable. Doing something as simple as looking at the news on my phone would have taken forever,” he said.

Retiring at the cottage is a dream for Warren. He and his family built the cottage together in 1980 when he was 16. They visited the cottage often as he was growing up and when he had kids of his own he made a point of doing the same thing for them.

“We want them to be proud Canadians like we are. We want them to know and understand and be proud of their heritage,” he said.

Warren has been recommending Xplore to all of his neighbours.

“With fibre, you don’t need cable TV and you don’t even need a home phone. It will save you a lot of money and be a much more reliable service.”

Xplore is expanding fibre and 5G Internet services across rural Canada. Find out if Xplore Fibre is available where you live.