Northwestel on Tuesday announced the completion of the Canada North Fibre Loop (CNFL), a 3,857-kilometre fibre loop in the Yukon and Northwest Territories funded by territorial and federal government programs as well as Northwestel’s own significant investments, the Northern telecom provider said in a press release.
The CNFL is comprised of three major routes (please see illustration):
- Northwestel’s 1,930-kilometre fibre network running through the two western territorial capitals, Whitehorse and Yellowknife
- The Government of Northwest Territories’ 1,149-kilometre Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link from Fort Simpson to Inuvik
- The Government of Yukon’s 778-kilometre Dempster Fibre Line, the most recently constructed route, between Dawson City and Inuvik
Calling it “a historic infrastructure milestone” for the telecom company and the North, Northwestel said the completion of the CNFL will protect residents and businesses in the two territories from internet and cellular service disruptions caused by major infrastructure damage.
“The growing impacts of climate change have resulted in significant disruptions to critical infrastructure in Northern Canada,” Northwestel’s press release said. “The past few years saw unprecedented wildfires and flooding in the territories. Consequentially, the damage to fibre lines has resulted in lengthy and impactful disruptions to telecommunications services.
“With the CNFL in place, if telecommunications infrastructure were damaged, internet and cellular traffic will flow in the opposite direction, ensuring minimal to no disruption for households and businesses along the loop.”
Substantial completion of the last component of the CNFL — the Dempster Fibre Line — was announced Sept. 13. Since taking over operation of the line, Northwestel has extensively tested the CNFL, it said.
“Today is a long-awaited day for Northwestel and our northern customers. Threats to critical infrastructure are only growing across Canada, and private sector and government partners must come together to protect it,” Curtis Shaw, Northwestel president, said in a statement. “The Canada North Fibre Loop is a testament to what we can accomplish when we work together in true partnership. Northwestel is proud to deliver this next level of reliability and resiliency to our customers in Northern Canada.”
The CNFL spans many northern indigenous traditional territories, Northwestel’s press release added. “The guidance and traditional knowledge shared with Northwestel by Indigenous rightsholders throughout the recent rapid expansion of fibre infrastructure has been critical in bringing the CNFL to life. Northwestel wishes to express sincere gratitude for their continued support and trust,” it said.
Earlier this year, Sixty North Unity, a consortium of indigenous organizations, announced its plans to purchase Northwestel from Bell Canada for a reported $1 billion. The deal would make Northwestel a wholly owned indigenous company and the largest indigenous-owned telecommunications company in the world.
While the completion of the CNFL marks a significant milestone, Northwestel said it “continues to advocate for additional telecommunications protection and redundancy in Northern Canada.”
As examples of additional network protections and redundancy, Northwestel said it now has connections into Alaska to draw on more capacity and has partnered with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation to seek partners to bring submarine fibre under Great Slave Lake to further protect Yellowknife.
Illustration via Northwestel’s press release
