MONTREAL – Quebecers will go to the polls to elect a new government on October 1st and the ruling Liberals announced over the long weekend that it “wants to make high-speed and ultra-high-speed Internet access and cellular telephony accessible throughout Quebec’s territory by 2020.”
In a second mandate, says the platform, the QLP government will appoint “a minister of Regions and the Vitality of the Territory that is in particular dedicated to the development of high-functioning digital infrastructures, and create a Bureau of digital infrastructures to coordinate the realization of these projects,” reads the release.
It has also vowed to boost the amount of cash immediately available to the Quebec Branché Program to develop digital infrastructure and support mobile wireless projects for regions that aren’t served or that are not well served to $500 million. “To do so, we will accelerate the investments of $300 million over five years that were previously announced and another $200 million will be added,” says the release.
“Drawing inspiration from projects developed in Abitibi-Témiscamingue and in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, these projects could be based on a model that consists of using a non-profit organization to deploy digital infrastructures. Companies that provide the services could have access to these towers to provide services to citizens,” reads the release.
These projects also received Connect to Innovate investment from the federal government.
“Our objective is clear: by 2020, 100% of citizens will have access to high-speed Internet services and over 90% of them will have access to fixed Internet services with ultra-high-speed broadband with at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) for downloading and 20 Mbps for uploading,” added the party promise.
“In 2018, we can no longer accept that Quebecers who have chosen to live in a remote area cannot have access to high-speed Internet and an effective cellular telephony network. Appointing a minister responsible for this and creating an organization dedicated to accelerating the deployment of projects across Quebec will contribute to the attractiveness and the retention of families and organizations, in addition to further stimulating innovation and increasing productivity among companies in our regions,” reads the statement from Philippe Couillard, Premier of Quebec and leader of the Quebec Liberal Party.
