Some communities in the Peace and Mackenzie regions are receiving provincial and federal funding to get access to reliable, high-speed internet.
Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish says it’s part of the provincial government’s commitment towards eliminating the “digital divide.”
“We were able to announce the first batch of communities that were getting specific funding for real live projects that are going to have shovels in the ground. This is the next stage in our quest to get reliable high-speed internet to every Albertan. We were able to announce $70 million worth of funding target towards connecting 10,400 homes in over 50 communities, several of which are up in the Peace Country.”
Glubish says the announcement is part of Alberta’s Broadband Strategy, with $390 million committed over four years to improve internet access in rural areas.
He adds that a number of First Nations communities were included in their announcement.
“We know that historically their communities are the most under served in the province because they’re among the most remote and hardest to reach, so logically it’s difficult to get connectivity to them. That’s why I was pretty excited about this first announcement of these first 53 communities. There’s a lot of First Nations communities included.”
Some of the communities that will benefit from improved internet speeds include:
– Arcadia (Sucker Creek)
– Bay Tree
– Blueberry Mountain
– Bonanza
– Driftpile
– Enilda
– Faust
– Gift Lake
– Gordondale
– Guy
– High Prairie
– Horse Lake First Nation
– Jean Côté
– Joussard
– Kinuso
– Rainbow Lake
– Swan River First Nation
– Salt Prairie
– Sunset House
– Watino
– Wanham
– Woking
We talked to the Minister on the Trending 55 Hot Seat, you can hear that full discussion below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
