Local Rural Broadband To Get A Boost
MP Hyer: Marathon, Armstrong, Nakina, Dorion to get broadband funding
September 1, 2010
THUNDER BAY – Local MP Bruce Hyer says Thunder
Bay-Superior North communities like Dorion, Pass Lake, MacDiarmid,
Armstrong, Nakina, and Marathon are slated for high-speed Internet
upgrades following a Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC) ruling Tuesday.
The ruling means the country’s largest telephone companies must allocate
$733 million out of special ‘deferral accounts’ towards customer
rebates and rural broadband. This includes $310 million rebated to urban
home telephone customers, and $422 million to deploy broadband Internet
service to 287 rural and remote communities.
“Many of our rural communities have been waiting a long time for decent
broadband Internet access - important not just for communication, but
for commerce and the economy of our region.” said Hyer. “This ruling
will help Marathon, Armstrong, Nakina, MacDiarmid, Pass Lake, and Dorion
get connected to upgraded high-speed service.”
According to the CRTC, the rural broadband Internet service rolled out
over the next four years to rural communities must be comparable to
service offered in urban areas. In Ontario, Bell Canada and Bell Aliant
Regional Communications will be responsible for providing the
communications infrastructure. Bell’s proposal to outfit about 112 rural
and remote communities with a slower wireless-based network was
rejected by the CRTC.
“High-speed broadband will open up opportunities for telehealth, for
education, and to help our rural businesses get on the map.” commented
Hyer. “We must make sure that the broadband roll-out is done in a timely
manner, so that more opportunities aren’t lost. Every year a community
goes without broadband access is a year they fall farther behind the
rest of the country.”
As widely reported in the media, customers in large urban areas can
expect payouts from $25 to $90 from their phone companies, although it
is unclear how customers will get paid, and payments could take up to
six months.
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