“These projects are the latest commitment to Canadians living in northern and rural regions through the Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians program,” said Tony Clement, Canada’s Minister of Industry, in a release Saturday. “The new economic opportunities these projects will create in these communities will benefit Canada for many years to come.”
The announcement was the third and final round of funding the government will provide to help stretch out broadband Internet infrastructure to previously unserved or underserved areas.
Industry Canada was allocated $225 million through Ottawa’s economic stimulus plan, part of the 2009 federal budget, to extend high-speed connectivity to approximately 250,000 Canadian households over three years.
“The jobs of the future will increasingly depend on people in communities like Thetford Mines (in Quebec) having consistent and reliable access to broadband services, such as distance education, telehealth coverage and new online business opportunities,” said Prime Minister Stephen Harper when the program was announced last July.
The latest announcement brings Ottawa’s total investment in Broadband Canada projects to $152.2 million. A statement from Industry Canada said “additional investments involving more geographic areas, regions, provinces and companies may be made in the near future.”
In September, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) separately ordered a $421.9-million expansion of broadband service to hundreds of rural and remote communities within four years.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Jameson Berkow
Quelle/Source: The Vancouver Sun, 07.11.2010
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