The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako has approved a project to find internet service shortfalls in rural areas.
The upcoming work, along with the hiring of a consultant, will help map out where those shortfalls are.
Rural director for Houston Rob Newell would eventually like to see the regional district install internet fibre.
He says that would be better than having to keep up with wireless upgrades.
“I want to be able to use the funds that I have trough gas tax funds and other grants so that I can finish it off completely where there’s enough people in the rural areas,” says Newell.
He says if the regional district incorporated an entity to take on the upgrades, it would be much cheaper than a private company.
Newell says the regional district has applied for federal and provincial grants to help the project along.
He says there are several economic and safety advantages to having people connected to both a good cell phone network and the internet while out on the highway and out of town.
In December, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ruled that broad-band internet is a basic service. That means the CRTC is calling on providers to boost connectivity in rural areas to provide speeds of 50 megabits per second with unlimited data connections for broadband access services.
City West and the province are investing over 2.7 million to instal fibre-to-home high-speed internet for over 1,100 households in the Hazelton and Lake Kathlyn areas.
“In Lake Kathlyn, we don’t have any services there…it’s currently an underserved area in terms of what the CRTC(Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission) defines as the basic services that folks should be able to receive,” says CityWest Vice President of Sales and Project Manager Donovan Dias.
CityWest plans to have the upgrades in Lake Kathlyn and Hazelton finished by the end of the year.