Mayor Hnatiw reacts to provincial budget for broadband

By Grant Cree

Sturgeon County Mayor Alanna Hnatiw provided the Free Press with her thoughts on the provincial Budget 2022 and how it affects the Sturgeon County

 Broadband Initiative Project.

“While we are pleased to see continued investment in broadband, Sturgeon County is unlikely to see any benefit for our current broadband project,” said Mayor Hnatiw. “This is because the new Provincial funding is being tied to the federal government’s current Universal Broadband Fund (UBF), a grant program that we haven’t been able to access for our Villeneuve pilot project.

For their programs, the federal and provincial governments rely on the National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map, which says that most Sturgeon County residents can access speeds of 50/10 Mbps service, making the County ineligible for both federal and provincial funding.

This is contrary to data from speed tests conducted by Sturgeon County residents and businesses through the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). Unfortunately, neither the federal nor the provincial governments recognize the CIRA data as a means to “challenge” the National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map data.

Further, while Sturgeon County is not experiencing the 50/10 speeds, this minimum threshold is also a lower level of service than will be required in the future. Sturgeon County’s investment in fibre allows for significant innovation and the ability to offer increased speeds as technology and customer needs grow.

This situation is not unique to Sturgeon County, and other rural municipalities face this same issue. We need both the Federal Government and the Province of Alberta to recognize that the National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map, which includes data provided by private sector ISPs, overstates rural Internet service levels and must not be solely relied upon to determine grant funding eligibility. 

In the meantime, Sturgeon County residents and businesses can’t wait for improved broadband services. The County is on track to make fibre-based broadband available to approximately 52% of the commercial and residential properties in the southwest pilot area before the end of 2022. We are borrowing $7.3 million to cover this cost.

Funding from the Province would help us bring fibre to even more properties and allow us to plan for future expansion of the fibre network to other areas of the County.

It is vital that any federal and provincial broadband funding consider the local context and have the discretion to support projects based on demonstrated economic and social benefits. We will continue to reach out to both levels of government to seek additional opportunities to fund shovel-ready projects like Sturgeon County’s Broadband Initiative.”

For more information, visit www.sturgeoncounty.ca/internet.