Several areas south of Burns Lake are being prioritized to receive better cellphone and internet coverage.
A Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako (RDBN) committee, formed last summer to oversee projects to enhance cellphone and internet connectivity in the region, has decided which projects to prioritize for 2020 grant applications.
The committee is recommending that the RDBN board prioritize the following projects:
- Fibre to the home for Hwy. 35 and Southbank, and east end of Francois Lake;
- Cellular and LTE coverage for Grassy Plains and Ootsa Lake;
- Cellular and LTE coverage for Buck Flats;
- Industrial cellular and LTE coverage for Pinkut Lake, Taltapin Lake and Clearview Landfill; and
- Cellular coverage for Fort St. James.
The fibre to the home project — for Hwy. 35 and Southbank, and east end of Francois Lake — is in part based on the expected fibre line being placed from Burns Lake to Tchesinkut Lake (announced by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission). This project proposes to extend this fibre line to the Southbank, according to an RDBN staff report.
The rationale for the Ootsa Lake area is for industrial safety for logging, mining and Rio Tinto operations, states the report, adding possibilities may exist for partnering with Cheslatta Carrier Nation, Skin Tyee Nation, Nee Tahi Buhn First Nation and Rio Tinto.
Cellular and LTE coverage for the Buck Flats area, located south of Houston, would improve connectivity for an identified 84 households. It would also be used for industrial traffic related to mining, logging and pipeline construction, according to the report.
Curtis Helgesen, the RDBN’s chief administrative officer, said it is still too early in the process to estimate an expected completion date for these projects.
“If successful with a grant application, we expect not to start a project until 2021 at the earliest,” said Helgesen. “The prioritized projects now require additional fine tuning in preparation for the grant applications, and hopefully agreements negotiated with other funding partners.”
The formation of the Broadband and Connectivity Committee follows a year of focused efforts by the RDBN on improving cellphone and internet services.
In July, the RDBN board approved $100,000 to spend on an application for a multi-million dollar internet grant program.
READ MORE: RDBN budgets $100,000 for internet application grant
According to the RDBN, cellular coverage is a priority for rural areas because of safety and emergency management considerations while providing wireless LTE service is an interim step to higher speed internet.