January 12, 2011

Christian Paradis, Canada’s minister of natural resources, delivered an update on the third round of Quebec projects to receive conditional funding approval through the “Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians” program (originally announced on November 6, 2010). Five new projects will soon make broadband Internet access available to about 2300 households in La Belle Province.

“We firmly believe that Quebeckers living in the regions should have the
same opportunities as their fellow citizens in the big cities. I am
delighted to announce that more families, businesses and organizations
in Quebec will soon have access to high-speed internet for the first
time,” said Paradis.

Canada’s Economic Action Plan provided $225 million for the development
and implementation of a strategy to extend broadband coverage. The
biggest component of this strategy, says the ministry, is “Broadband
Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians”, an initiative that targets
Canadians living in unserved and underserved areas.

The five projects conditionally approved in this round reflect a total
investment of $2,274,339 in Quebec. Collectively, these projects will
offer broadband internet access to an estimated 2270 households. The
following three companies have received final funding approval as a
result:

• Communication-Temiscamingue
• TGV Net Mauricie
• UNI Connexions Abitibi Inc.

Combined with the projects announced in Round 1 on May 9, 2010, and in
Round 2 between July 6 and 15, 2010, Broadband Canada will soon bring
high-speed internet connectivity to 115,386 households in Quebec, for a
total provincial investment of $50,378,918. While the November 6
announcements were the last round of major announcements under Broadband
Canada, additional investments involving more geographic areas,
regions, provinces and companies may be made in the near future.

CLICK HERE for Broadband Canada.