Telus receiving $2.5M in provincial funding to connect 600 homes in three B.C. communities
NANOOSE BAY, B.C. — CityWest and the B.C. and federal governments today announced $4.6 million in combined government funding has been awarded to CityWest to bring high-speed Internet access to 1,200 rural and remote households in seven communities on Vancouver Island and the nearby Gulf Islands.
CityWest will use the funds to build and operate a new fibre network in each of the communities, which include Telegraph Cove, Holberg, Kyuquot and Winter Harbour on northern Vancouver Island, as well as Van Anda on Texada Island, Galiano Island and Saturna Island, explains a CityWest press release.
The B.C. government is providing up to $1.3 million for the projects through its Connecting British Columbia program administered by the Northern Development Initiative Trust, while $3.3 million in federal funding is coming from the Government of Canada’s Universal Broadband Fund, according to the release.
“The estimated $6.5 million total cost of the project also includes up to $1.2 million contributed by CityWest, and up to $618,000 in other funding,” the release says.
“We’re thrilled by today’s announcement to bring improved connectivity to more underserved communities. These last-mile fibre-optic projects will provide residents with urban-class connectivity, creating equal opportunities for more rural and remote British Columbians,” said Stefan Woloszyn, CEO of CityWest, in the release. “We would like to express our thanks to the Province of B.C. and the Federal Government, for their vision on ensuring that these communities are able to unlock their connectivity aspirations.”
Once the last-mile fibre-to-the-home infrastructure has been completed in each community, it will be tied into the Connected Coast project, according to the release.
“Providing the same level of access, quality and opportunities in communities across British Columbia is vital,” said Lisa Beare, B.C.’s minister of citizens’ services. “Reliable, high-speed internet access for rural, remote and Indigenous communities on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands will further bridge the digital divide and bring British Columbia closer to connecting every community in B.C. with high-speed internet access by 2027.”
A separate B.C. government release said the province is also providing $2.5 million in funding through the Connecting British Columbia program to Telus Communications to bring high-speed broadband Internet to 600 households in three Vancouver Island communities, including Sproat Lake near Port Alberni, Forbidden Plateau near Comox Valley, and Ross Road including approximately 2.3 kilometres along Island Highway East in Nanoose Bay.
Telus is contributing up to $2.2 million toward the estimated $4.7 million total cost of the project, according to the province’s release, which did not mention any federal funding for this project.
In March 2022, the B.C. government announced it was partnering with the federal government to provide up to $830 million in funding to expand high-speed Internet services to underserved rural, remote and First Nations communities throughout the province, with the goal of connecting all B.C. communities by 2027.
