STEPHEN RICCIO
PONTIAC Nov. 18, 2020
The federal government made an announcement pertaining to rural internet development on Nov. 9, telling Canadians that an additional $750 million will be added to the now $1.75 billion universal broadband fund that was launched in the 2019 federal budget.
Pontiac MP Will Amos said he is pleased to see . . .
his party boost the fund, and that it shows that the improvement of internet services across rural areas like the Pontiac is a priority.
The fund’s purpose is to help finance project applications from service providers that meet the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) criteria. The government said in their announcement that $150 million is being earmarked for project applications that are submitted by Jan. 15, 2021, with the goal that those projects are completed by mid-November 2021.
One project that is already a candidate for receiving these funds is the Connexion Fibre Picanoc (CFP) project that was submitted to the CRTC by the MRC Pontiac and MRC Vallée de la Gatineau in June 2020, which requested roughly $40 million in grants: $20 million from the broadband fund and $20 million from the Quebec Ministry of Economy and Innovation. CFP was created by both MRCs as a non-profit corporation.
The project, if approved, would cost more than $57.5 million in total and will deploy nearly 3,000 km of fibre to connect 6,788 residences to high-speed service.
The government’s announcement included the year 2026 as a target for connecting 98 per cent of Canadians to high-speed internet.
However, Amos said that it is important that people understand that while the government can increase the funding available to internet projects like CFP’s, they can’t determine the timeline on which internet infrastructure gets implemented.
While the increased funding for the broadband fund does not speed up the timeline for when projects like CFP’s can be enacted, Amos said that a “rising tide lifts all boats.”
CFP has said that they will have their proposed high-speed service up and running within 36 months of receiving funding.
“It gives all projects that will be proposed for our region, whether it’s [CFP] or any others that might get proposed, it gives them all a way better chance of getting funded,” Amos said.
Residents throughout various areas of the Pontiac have been dealing with shoddy internet service for years. However, the issue has gained traction federally after being included in the recent throne speech. The speech highlighted that the impcat of the COVID-19 pandemic has showed the need for better rural internet with more people working and learning from their homes.
Amos said that it was also important to know that the federal government has already secured a $600 million agreement with the Canadian company Telesat for improving satellite capacity. It has also given regulatory authorization to Elon Musk’s low-orbiting satellite project, Starlink.
While it’s unclear if either of those companies’ services will benefit the Pontiac, Amos said that the government is enabling more competition through these agreements which will in turn hopefully lower prices.
“The access problem in rural Canada isn’t just about the fact that there isn’t fibre to the home,” he said. “It’s that no matter what service is, whether it’s good or [bad], it’s crazy expensive.”
