Ottawa spends $ 41 million to speed up the internet in the countryside of Alberta

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After the federal government announces millions of funding for state broadband internet projects, remote and rural residents of Yellowhead County and several other Alberta communities will soon experience faster downloads.

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At a virtual media conference on Tuesday, Federal Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault announced $ 41 million in a broadband project connecting more than 2,600 households in Alberta. Funding comes from the Universal Broadband Fund, a federal program created to support broadband Internet projects across the country.

Of the more than 30 communities that will benefit from these upgrades, Yellowhead County, about 200km west of Edmonton, will receive $ 4.5 million to connect rural areas. $ 2.5 million to allow your own community to log on faster.

According to Boissonnault, the funding comes from the “quick response stream” of the program, which has allocated $ 150 million to “excavator response” projects, including 21 recently announced in Alberta.

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Mayor Wade Williams of Yellowhead County said the county applied through a rapid funding stream after it began working on a local communications strategy in 2014.

Broadband access not only enables teleworkers and students to study remotely, but also helps economic development, improves security and helps the industry connect to the outside world.

“It will also be an asset to other protection services such as first responders, emergency services, and early detection and monitoring of wildfires,” he said.

Vaughn Paul, president of Arrow Technology Group, who received several grants to develop broadband projects for multiple indigenous peoples, said connectivity has made some indigenous communities a reality, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic changed. Broadband internet from luxury to essentials said to fill the digital divide away from high speed access.

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“Many services, including healthcare and education, need to go from face-to-face to online,” Paul said. “High-speed connections into these homes provide greater access to home care, virtual care and lifelong learning. It is imperative to have a positive financial impact on the community.”

The Universal Broadband Fund was created to support infrastructure projects that extend high-speed Internet access to Canadians across the country, especially those living in rural and remote areas.

In December, Boissonnault stated that more than 200,000 rural and remote households in Alberta do not have access to high-speed internet.

“In the increasingly digital world of online, high-quality, high-speed access to the Internet is essential,” says Boissonnault. “Today, we are helping rural Alberta’s rural communities become unrestricted and have access to the services they need because of lack of connectivity.”

By 2026, Ottawa wants 98% of Canadians to have access to download speeds of at least 50 Mbps and upload speeds starting at 10 Mbps. The federal government aims to expand similar coverage nationwide by 2030.

— Use files from Lisa Johnson

hissawi@postmedia.com

@hamdiissawi