Cogeco getting millions more in high-speed funding

Cogeco Inc. is getting more than $40 million in funding for high-speed internet projects in Quebec. As part of the federal-provincial fund Canada-Quebec Operation High Speed, Cogeco will connect more than 6,000 households in the Monteregie and Montmagny regions by September 2022. The majority of the homes are in Monteregie, where the company will connect 5,380 homes using a combined $30.6 million from the federal and provincial governments toward the project cost of $34.7 million, according to a Monday release from Innovation, Science and Development Canada (ISED). “We’re thrilled and privileged to participate in Canada–Quebec Operation High Speed,” Johanne Hinse, general manager for Quebec and vice-president of programming and community relations with Cogeco, said in the release. “We are very proud that, with this new announcement, many residents of the Montérégie region—whether families, workers or students—will be able to benefit from our robust network. We are even more determined to speed up the expansion of our robust network within the scheduled September 2022 time frame.” The aim of the Operation High Speed fund is to connect 150,000 homes, “notably through unprecedented agreements with six of the biggest telecommunications companies,” according to the release from ISED, through an equal investment of $826.3 million from the two levels of government. Cogeco is getting another $10.4 million from Operation High Speed, as announced by ISED Tuesday, to connect 780 homes in the Montmagny regional county municipality in a project totalling $11.1 million by September of next year. Both projects are billed as “a key part of the digital shift in Quebec and will promote access to telemedicine, distance learning, entertainment, online retail and telework,” in their respective releases from ISED. Cogeco has gotten other funding through Operation High Speed in the past. Last month, ISED announced the company would receive $23.8 million to provide coverage to 2,890 households in the Outaouais region by fall 2022. At the same time, it was announced Xplornet Inc. would receive $57.5 million for a similar project. That announcement came a day after ISED said Telus Corp. and Sogetel Inc. would get millions for projects worth a combined $38 million. All are included in the six companies with agreements through Operation High Speed. The other two are Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron and BCE Inc.

Cogeco getting millions more in high-speed funding

Brief | June 8, 2021

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Cogeco getting millions more in high-speed funding

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