Tory government announces broadband projects for Quebec

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon announced Tuesday that seven rural broadband projects in Quebec have received conditional approval for funding through the Conservative government’s Broadband Canada program. Together, the projects are expected to provide broadband Internet access to 29,000 households in Quebec. "Broadband Internet will mean boundless opportunities for these communities," Cannon said in a release. "These latest announcements, together with those from round one announced in May, mean that these Quebec households will soon be online at modern, multimedia-capable speeds." The seven new projects will receive $17.6 million in funding. The federal government has allocated a total of $225 million over three years to provide broadband Internet access to rural Canadians through the program. As a result of Tuesday’s announcement, five organizations are receiving conditional contracts to provide Internet access in remote parts of Quebec. They are Barrett Xplore Inc., Kativik Regional Government, Michaud Technologies Inc., Télécommunications Xittel Inc. and Vidéotron Ltd. Barrett, a satellite provider, will connect the largest share of the homes announced Tuesday, at an estimated 14,586. Barrett also won a contract to serve other parts of Quebec in the last Broadband Canada announcement in May. Vidéotron will connect the second largest share of homes, estimated at 5,560. "We are committed to executing on a solid plan for growth in Quebec. We will provide broadband access to 100% of unserved residents in these administrative regions, thanks to our hybrid model which includes Fixed Wireless and Satellite technology," Charles Beaudet, general manager for Quebec and the Atlantic provinces at Barrett, said in a release. "In all, the announcement of these two administrative regions brings the total number of households awarded to Barrett Xplore Inc. to over 78,000. We made Quebec a priority, and our work is paying off." It’s unclear how many homes will be connected using mobile wireless broadband as opposed to wireline. Videotron president and CEO Robert Dépatie said last month that wireless will be the main route to connecting rural and remote Canadians, adding that LTE, the next generation of wireless technology, can provide adequate broadband speeds. Videotron has been conducting final testing of a 3.75G mobile network in Quebec, which it plans to launch this summer.

Tory government announces broadband projects for Quebec

Brief | July 6, 2010

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Tory government announces broadband projects for Quebec

Brief | July 6, 2010

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