The Regional District of Bulkley Nechako (RDBN) on Nov. 23 addressed the current infrastructure problems which internet service providers (ISPs) are facing in 亚洲天堂 Lake.

Recently, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission made an announcement to make high-speed internet services [50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload] affortable to more than five million Canadian households.

Michael Riis-Christianson, 亚洲天堂 Lake Rural director, said that internet service providers develop budgets for connectivity projects but the approval process is lengthy. He said that it takes them anywhere from nine months to over a year to get approval, and during this period, inflation catches up and erodes the project鈥檚 feasibility.

Riis-Christianson also stressed that this process needs to speeden up; otherwise, it puts additional pressure on the ISPs to complete the projects promptly.

Nellie Davis, manager of regional economic development said that RDBN is communicating with the province and other agencies to ensure they are aware of the delayed construction process and advocating for changes.

Davis added there are several factors that impact project delivery in rural areas and RDBN does not have jurisdiction to make these changes.

Federal and Provincial funding programs rely on Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada鈥檚 (ISED) to determine eligibility for connectivity funding programs and only ISPs with at least three years of delivering connectivity service experience can apply.

Davis said RDBN is not an eligible applicant for connectivity funding and only relays information that ISPs inform.

鈥淭ELUS have been stringing fibre optic lines for months along the southside,鈥� Miranda Morgan, southside resident said to Lakes District 亚洲天堂.

She has concerns when they will get fibre optic internet.

Lena Chen from TELUS鈥檚 communications and public relations said that the TELUS PureFibre network would soon connect the surrounding areas of 亚洲天堂 Lake and Francois Lake, including South Bank, Danskin, Decker Lake, Wetsuweten, Nee Tahi Buhn, Skin Tyee, and Cheslatta territories.

鈥淲e anticipate the completion of these projects by early spring 2024.鈥�

Chen stated that customers who upgrade to PureFibre would not see an increase in their bills鈥� cost; they would receive faster and more reliable service for the same price they were paying.

She pointed out that residents in Ootsa Lake currently have access to TELUS copper-based internet service with speeds up to 6 Mbps.

However, she didn鈥檛 have any details on when the PureFibre rollout would occur in Ootsa Lake but said that TELUS will continue evaluating the community鈥檚 needs and would share an update when more information is available.