Includes $20.5 million from CRTC Broadband Fund and $41 million from UBF and CTI program; plus more construction announced for SWIFT projects
GATINEAU, OTTAWA, MANITOBA and SOUTHWESTERN ONTARIO — The CRTC and the federal and Ontario governments all made separate announcements today about government-funded projects to improve Internet access or mobile wireless services in rural communities across the country.
The CRTC announced 10 projects will receive up to $20.5 million in funding from the Commission’s Broadband Fund, which will potentially benefit 3,625 households in 46 communities, including 16 Indigenous communities, in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The CRTC’s Broadband Fund will allocate funds as follows:
- Telus Communications and Telus Mobility will receive up to $10.7 million combined to build or upgrade local fixed access and mobile wireless infrastructure in a total of 22 communities in British Columbia and Alberta.
- Bell Canada will receive up to $1.5 million to build or upgrade local fixed access infrastructure in a total of 22 communities in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Ontario.
- ATG Arrow Technology Group Limited Partnership is receiving up to $7.2 million to build fixed access infrastructure in one community in Alberta (Goodfish Lake).
- Rogers Communications is receiving up to $964,000 to improve fixed access infrastructure in one community in New Brunswick (Storeytown).
Recipients of funding from the CRTC Broadband Fund are required to provide broadband Internet access services or mobile wireless services that either meet the Commission’s universal service objective — 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband, and LTE connectivity for mobile wireless services — or move communities closer to attaining it.
The Commission says construction for most of the projects it is announcing today is anticipated to start in the first half of 2022 at the earliest. These projects represent the third round of funding approvals from the Commission’s second call for applications to the Broadband Fund. A backgrounder with more details on the approved projects can be found here.
In a separate announcement, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) announced more than $41 million in federal funding is being awarded through the Connect to Innovate (CTI) program and the Rapid Response Stream of the Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) for 11 projects to bring high-speed Internet to 93 communities across rural Manitoba.
Four projects funded through the CTI program have the potential to improve Internet speeds for more than 14,000 households in Manitoba. The funding distribution for the CTI projects is as follows:
- Kici Sipi Communications will receive $16.6 million in funding to connect the communities of Cross Lake and Norway House to high-speed Internet.
- Broadband Communications North is receiving $6.6 million to bring broadband to 16 remote communities, which are primarily First Nation communities.
- Xplornet Communications is receiving $561,277 to connect Ebb and Flow First Nation to broadband.
- RFNow Inc. will receive $9.2 million to bring broadband to 47 rural Manitoba communities.
The funding distribution for seven projects from the Rapid Response Stream of the UBF, which will bring broadband to 4,200 underserved Manitoba households is as follows:
- RFNow is receiving $609,867 to connect four rural communities.
- Westman Communications Group is receiving $5.4 million to connect six communities.
- Xplornet Communications will receive $140,144 to connect nine communities.
- Waywayseecappo First Nation is receiving $884,191 to connect its community to broadband.
- Fiber.ca Inc. is receiving $1.5 million to bring broadband to eight communities.
Finally, the Ontario government announced construction has started on several projects previously awarded funding through the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) program, which will bring high-speed Internet service to more than 1,000 homes and businesses in Middlesex County and Lambton County.
In Middlesex County, construction of $7.2 million in broadband infrastructure has begun in the communities of Christina, Longwood, Mayfair, Middlemiss, Muncey and rural areas around Thorndale. These projects were announced earlier this year, with EH!tel Networks awarded a $5.5 million contract (including $2.8 million in SWIFT funding) to bring high-speed Internet to almost 600 rural homes and businesses, and Start.ca awarded $1 million in funding to undertake a $1.7 million project to connect 237 homes and businesses.
In Lambton County, construction of a $1.7 million broadband project has started in the communities of Thedford (formerly Bosanquet Township), Springvale, Jericho and Jura. The contract for this project was awarded to Execulink Telecom last year, along with $1.2 million in SWIFT funding, to bring high-speed Internet to 202 households and businesses.
Furthermore, the Ontario government announced more than 1,000 homes and businesses in Kettle and Stony Point First Nation now have access to high-speed broadband service thanks to the completion of a $2.6-million broadband project by Execulink Telecom, which received $1.7 million in funding from SWIFT to build the network infrastructure. (Last year, Cartt.ca reported when Execulink Telecom broke ground on the project.)
