YELLOWKNIFE – Det’on Cho Management LP announced yesterday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Northwestel to collaborate on an Indigenous-owned submarine fibre line under Great Slave Lake.
The proposed submarine fibre optic cable will run “between the North and South Slave regions of the NWT,” a press release says. “The submarine line would connect at both ends with existing Northwestel fibre lines, creating a resilient fibre loop that allows for broadband traffic to flow even in the event of a fibre break.”
This will “provide added protection to services in nine NWT communities: Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Hay River, Fort Providence, Behchoko, Whati, Dettah, Ndilo and Yellowknife,” according to the release.
Det’on Cho, which is 100% owned by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, intends to pursue public funding for the project and both Det’on Cho and Northwestel will contribute significant financial resources, the release says. When the project is complete, “Det’on Cho will own the fibre asset, with Northwestel operating, maintaining, and repairing the line at their own cost for a period of 20 years.”
“The more important Internet access has become in people’s lives, the more important it is that access be extremely reliable,” said John Henderson, chief operating officer of Det’on Cho Management LP, in the press release.
“Our communities have benefitted from Northwestel’s investment in fibre, and now we have the opportunity to close a gap that has the potential to cause a crisis in our communities. This redundant fibre connection will protect against the inevitable fibre breaks that happen and vastly decrease the likelihood of major outages that harm our economy and our communities.”
“We are excited to be partnering once again on a First Nation-led project that has the potential to strengthen the NWT’s fibre network, while bringing jobs and private-sector investment to the region,” said Paul Gillard, Northwestel’s vice-president, business markets.
“We look forward to supporting Det’on Cho in any way we can to move this project forward and bring added resiliency to our NWT customers.”
