ST. MARTINS, N.B – Xplornet and the federal government announced Friday a major upgrade is coming to its fixed-wireless broadband infrastructure in New Brunswick.
A $120-million investment ($40 million from the federal government and the bulk from Xplornet) will see 3,000 km of fibre-optic cable and upgraded infrastructure installed to better connect 170 fixed-wireless towers. The company says that means 83,000 rural homes and businesses in N.B. will soon have access to a “5G-ready” network offering unlimited data.
The release did not say when the work will begin or how long it will take but we followed up with Xplornet and were told the work will begin immediately and take three years to complete.
Along with upgrades to hundreds of sites, “this investment will enable the latest wireless technology to deliver future 5G services, while bringing speeds of 100 Mbps and unlimited data downloads to rural communities in New Brunswick,” reads the company press release.
“Today's announcement is the next step in our plan to continue evolving and improving Internet service in rural New Brunswick by deploying the latest 5G-ready technology in our home Province,” said Allison Lenehan, president and CEO, in the press release.
Xplornet will invest $80 million and the $40 million from the feds comes from the Rural and Northern Infrastructure Communities Stream of the Investing in Canada infrastructure plan.
