Public hearing set for next phase in Red Deer County’s broadband internet project

Mayor Jim Wood said the County’s network has already been receiving positive feedback. He estimates roughly 90 per cent of the Village of Delburne’s population and various hamlets have already signed up for the network.

“We’re trying to ensure that the folks in Red Deer County, in fact, have the same great service that they might see in the city and we’re looking at this as a huge economic driver for our region and an ability for people to want to live in Red Deer County and do business in Red Deer County,” he said.

The Canadian government set the minimum target speed for all Canadians, known as the Universal Service Objective, to be 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload. In 2018, only 46 percent of rural households had access to broadband services that met that standard, while 87 per cent of Canadian households did.

RURAL CONNECT

As Rural Broadband is listed as council’s number one priority on the current Strategic Plan, the County is now moving forward on the creation of an MCC to deliver Broadband data utility services across the province in conjunction with Paintearth County and others who wish to join. The mayor confirmed that Red Deer County would hold a majority share to control their assets within the community.

Council reviewed a business plan of what would be called Rural Connect Ltd. (CONNECT) to address the lack of private-sector investment from providers like TELUS and Shaw, who may feel the lack of residential and business density from rural communities which does not meet the required rates of return on investment.

The mayor says CONNECT would be mandated by the Alberta government and be an open network if private companies should want to join.

The plan states that CONNECT would operate as a not-for-profit to maintain affordability for customers and all excess revenues would return to the public-sector shareholders, being the participating municipalities.

CONNECT would operate and maintain the infrastructure for the partnering communities, using EQUS as its business operations partner for electric utility services and Chief Executive Officer and Valo as networks operations partner. The Mayor adds this will maximize cost efficiency with contracted labour from Valo and administrative resources as-needed by EQUS.

Current prices for companies like TELUS, Shaw, Xplorenet, Missing Link and Starlink can range from $70 – 150 per month, with some requiring satellite installations of up to $740.

BUDGET

The broadband infrastructure for CONNECT would cost $14 million. Participating municipalities would need to contribute at least 25 per cent of total capital installation costs.

The County says that over the past year, they have been working with the federal government towards a $10 million grant named the Universal Broadband Fund.

During budget deliberations in December 2022, Councillor Christine Moore voiced that she did not want to move forward with the project until the funding was secured. The item was listed with an asterisk in the budget to be reviewed by council at a later date.

READ: Red Deer County council passes operating and capital budget on split vote

The mayor says that the County has received preliminary confirmation of the grant by the government and he does not anticipate any changes.

While the County is allowed to expend up to 30 per cent of the funds prior to the signing of the funding agreement, administration instead received council approval to release $4 million to order equipment and fibre in advance.

While EQUS is investing a working capital of $2 million into CONNECT, the business plan stated that the main challenge with building new broadband networks in sparsely populated rural communities is that the funds required to construct the network either requires very long payback periods, or in some cases, it will not be paid back by the profits generated.

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Regarding broadband internet issues across the province, the Alberta NDP said they would commit to connecting each person in the province with universal, broadband internet within a single term in office and $400 million in capital grants to build the infrastructure.

“We are proud to make this commitment because we understand how important rural communities are to Alberta’s future,” said NDP Leader Rachel Notley. “Digital equality is a key component of economic and community growth going forward.”

They also said they would commit to passing the Building Broadband Faster in Alberta Act that would speed up permitting, partnerships with municipalities, access to infrastructure right-of-ways and building. They claim it will include a “dig once” policy to ensure fibre internet lines are included as part of any road build or upgrade project.

“This legislation will ensure that we don’t just build faster, but build better — with an eye to the future,” said Taneen Rudyk, Alberta NDP candidate for Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville.

“Access to high-speed internet is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It is essential for our businesses, our agricultural operations, our students, and our communities.”

Rudyk stated that collaboration will be vital to delivering on the broadband commitment and both she and Alberta NDP Strathcona-Sherwood Park candidate Bill Tonita have served their communities in municipal governments.

They added the Alberta NDP plans to establish a new provincial agency called Digital Innovation Alberta at the cost of about $5 million annually to bring together experts and industry professionals to transform existing infrastructure into networks that expand across the province. They say a new Broadband Advisory Group will be set up that to pull in local stakeholders with expertise to inform the best broadband strategy for each region and community.

Alberta NDP Edmonton-Manning candidate and Rural Economic Development Critic Heather Sweet claimed the UCP has spent less than 20 percent of the funding they committed to rural broadband.

“Another broken UCP promise,” said Sweet. “Not only did the UCP miss the entire construction season, but they’ve missed out on years of vital economic opportunity for rural Albertans.”

“We will create good-paying jobs — and our vision of a better future includes delivering broadband access across every corner of the province.”

In response to the committment, current UCP Minister of Technology and Innovation and Strathcona-Sherwood Park candidate Nate Glubish said, “Rachel Notley and the NDP invested nothing into rural broadband expansion when they had the chance from 2015 to 2019. Zero. Zip. Nada.”

“In stark contrast, the UCP made rural broadband expansion a major priority for the government. Our bold Alberta Broadband Strategy includes $390 million to connect every Albertan, regardless of where they live, to affordable, reliable high-speed internet by 2027. Our funding commitment unlocked a historic $390 million in federal matching funding, bringing the total public investment in Alberta to $780 million. As a result, 50 communities across the province are now receiving funding to build reliable, high-speed internet networks, with many more communities set to receive funding soon.”

“Reliable, high-speed internet is not a luxury anymore – it’s a necessity. The UCP rolled up its sleeves and got to work on this critical issue, and now we’re closing the connectivity gap across rural Alberta.”

by Alessia Proietti

Public hearing set for next phase in Red Deer County’s broadband internet project

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