Sharon McLeay
Times Contributor
The Government of Alberta is asking county representatives to commit to a five-year contract to provide upgraded broadband services to rural households and businesses. The Final Mile Broadband Initiative (FMBI) proposes to deliver high-speed internet and follows the SuperNet that is already in place.
“I haven’t had anybody raising hell that they can’t get it,” said Councillor Ben Armstrong.
Michael Ziehr, Engineering Technologist and Development officer for the county said there were many issues to consider. He also pointed out that Corridor Communications Inc. had a reasonable system in place which could service most of the county. The CCI network offers broadband services of up to six Mbps but also has primary phone line services. Other major companies are serving most of the municipal areas as well.
Issues discussed were reliability of the Alberta Government system, cost, technical service providers, towers and whether it can provide service to everyone in the county, if the county was investing funds for the service.
“Broadband is changing on a daily basis,” said Ziehr, noting the service may be obsolete before it even gets implemented Alberta wide.
Councillors indicated they would like more information as to who has broadband already and what services were already available to area residents. There was a suggestion about posting which services are offered elsewhere where residents of Wheatland County can see them and know what is open to them. It was also suggested that the question of participation in the FMBI could be placed with other census questions in the upcoming county census polls.
