Improved high-speed Internet services are coming to an additional 13,500 homes across the province, including in this region, thanks to an investment this summer by the federal government.
The local communities that will get the service upgrades include Admirals Beach, Aquafort, Bay Bulls, Branch, Cape Broyle, Colinet, Fermeuse, Ferryland, Fox Harbour, Gaskiers – Point La Haye, Long Harbour – Mount Arlington Heights, Mount Carmel – Mitchells Brook – St. Catherine’s, Placentia, Portugal Cove South, Renews – Cappahayden, Riverhead, St. Joseph’s, St. Mary’s, St. Vincent’s – St. Stephen’s – Peter’s River, Trepassey and Witless Bay.
Everyday tasks that were once done in person, such as shopping, communicating, learning and banking, are now done online, noted Rob Moore, the Regional Minister for Newfoundland and Labrador and Minister of State for ACOA. “The Government of Canada is delivering on its commitment to rural Canadians to connect an additional 280,000 households in rural and remote regions of the country to high-speed Internet at minimum speeds of five megabits per second,” he added. “Much of this will be completed by the time Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2017.”
Last summer, the government invited Canadians to provide feedback online to help better determine areas in need of high-speed Internet access, Moore said. Once information was received from individual Canadians and governments across the country, Industry Canada invited Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to submit proposals for funding to build wireless or wired infrastructure.
