OTTAWA — The federal government and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador today announced joint funding for Bell Canada to bring high-speed Internet access to 694 rural households in the province.
This project will benefit the communities of Charlottetown, Lodge Bay, Mary’s Harbour, Port Hope Simpson and Red Bay, all located in southeastern Labrador.
The amount of funding Bell is receiving to undertake the broadband network construction was not disclosed in the government’s press release.
A spokesperson for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) said in an email to Cartt.ca the federal government is not disclosing funding details for this project at this time.
“This project includes locations on the island of Newfoundland, and in Labrador, but only the Labrador portion of the project will be announced on July 27. The project funding amount applies to the project as a whole, and will be released when the full project is announced. The date of this announcement has not yet been determined,” the ISED spokesperson explained.
This project is part of an agreement between the governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador, announced in February, that will see the two levels of government jointly invest up to $136 million to help connect all remaining rural households in the province to high-speed Internet. Under that agreement, the federal government is contributing up to $116 million from the Universal Broadband Fund, and the province is contributing up to $20 million.
“We are pleased to continue our investment partnership with the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to expand Bell’s all-fibre network,” said Glen LeBlanc, Bell’s chief financial officer and vice-chair for Atlantic Canada, in a press release.
“As the country’s largest investor in network infrastructure, including here in Newfoundland and Labrador and across the Atlantic region, Bell continues to deliver on our goal of advancing how Canadians connect with each other and the world.”
The federal and provincial governments previously announced in March they were providing $22.4 million in joint funding to the Nunatsiavut Government for a Bell Canada project that will bring high-speed Internet to more than 1,000 households in the rural Labrador communities of Rigolet, Postville, Makkovik, Nain, Hopedale and Natuashish.
For more on today’s announcement, please click here.
