Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Board Chair Rob Gay says solutions for rural broadband connectivity are on the horizon.
Gay shared some insights from the recent Canadian Rural Broadband Conference in Kelowna.
“The country basically said that broadband to Canadians is almost an essential service. Just like water and sewer, broadband is necessary for education, public safety health and plenty of other reasons,” said Gay.
“There is about 10 per cent of Canadians who aren’t getting stable broadband.”
Gay says there are some solutions to those connectivity issues being established through the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
“There are two ways they’re achieving this: one is through fibre optics to someone’s home, but the more rural it goes the more expensive it gets. The other way, if you’re very rural, is through satellites,” explained Gay.
“Now we’re seeing a transition between both, a sort of hybrid model. We’re probably going to see that along Highway 3, allowing us to use our phones in that area through a satellite link.”
Gay says the Kootenays are fortunate to have a company to help strengthen local connectivity in rural areas.
“We have the Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation and with them, we were able to get together with the provincial and federal government and pull together an $82 million program,” said Gay.
“That is bringing broadband to places within the Columbia Basin and includes about 5,500 homes.”
Gay says work on this project must be done by March 2027.
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