Access to high-speed internet is heading to nearly 3,000 households situated in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, the provincial government recently announced.
“The Kootenays is one of B.C.’s most rugged and beautiful regions,” says Diana Gibson, who serves as Minister of Citizens’ Services.
“People there know high-speed internet is a necessity for learning, working, and accessing vital services,” Gibson says.
“People living rurally deserve to have access to good jobs in the digital economy, as well as having options like telehealth and being able to more easily keep in touch with family and friends,” agrees Steve Morissette, who functions as parliamentary secretary for rural development, MLA for Kootenay-Monashee.
“It’s great that more people across the Kootenay valley will have reliable, high-speed internet options,” he said.
The households affected are primarily in the Columbia Basin areas of Valemount, Nakusp, New Denver, Rosebery, Salmo, Silverton, and Slocan.
The expansion “supports residents and businesses, fosters economic development, remote education and virtual healthcare, and betters the overall quality of life for Valemount and surrounding areas,” according to Owen Torgerson, the mayor of Valemount.
“Rural people deserve to have the same access to opportunity as people living in more urban parts of the province, and that means keeping up with a changing digital landscape,” posits Brittny Anderson, Minister of State for Local Governments and Rural Communities and MLA for Kootenay Central. “I’m glad to see that more people in the Kootenays will have their homes brought up to speed.”
By expanding high-speed connectivity in the Columbia Basin, Gibson says the Province is “giving people the tools they need to stay connected, grow local businesses, and fully participate in today’s digital economy, all while remaining in the communities they call home.”
The Province is investing $17 million to enhance connectivity for these communities, building on an $82M “Connect the Basin” initiative which aims to improve internet access for more than 5,400 households across the Kootenays.
“This investment helps close gaps in the Connect the Basin initiative and brings high-speed fibre-to-the-home infrastructure to communities that have long faced connectivity challenges,” remarked Johnny Strilaeff, hief executive officer of the Columbia Basin Trust.
Since 2015, the Government of Canada has invested more than $530 million in connectivity projects in British Columbia.
Since 2017, the provincial government has invested over $600 million in connectivity projects in the province.
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