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Alberta’s push to expand high-speed internet to rural and remote communities got an upgrade from the federal government Wednesday.
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Federal Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings made the $390-million announcement with Service Alberta Minister Nate Glubish in Leduc.
“Today, the Government of Canada committed to matching Alberta’s historic $390-million funding commitment for new high-speed internet infrastructure in rural, remote and Indigenous communities across Alberta. Our investment has now unlocked a total of $780 million in public sector funding to help eliminate the digital divide,” Glubish said in a statement.
“This builds on our previous dollar-for-dollar agreement of $300 million announced in December 2021, more than doubling broadband investment in the province.”
Hutchings said in a statement the funds will go to help fix the “connection gap” in “every nook and cranny in Alberta.”
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“The Government of Canada will continue to make investments like these to help connect every Canadian and achieve our national target of connecting 98 per cent of Canadians by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030,” Hutchings said.
However, NDP MLA Jon Carson said it’s all talk, but “little action” from the government.
“This is the fourth announcement from the UCP on this issue since last summer, but they have not connected a single additional rural Alberta household to high-speed internet,” Carson said in a statement.
“These delays mean the UCP has already pushed back their timeline for connecting Albertans to this critical infrastructure. In December, the minister was aiming for universal access by 2023-24. Now they’ve delayed that to 2026-27.”
The federal portion will come from the Universal Broadband Fund, with the end goal of connecting roughly 200,000 households currently underserved. The aim is to facilitate internet speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 10 Mbps upload.
Feds match Alberta's $390M pledge for improved high-speed internet - Edmonton Journal
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