High-speed internet comes to rural areas
More than 3,100 households in rural Okanagan areas now have access to high-speed internet, the provincial government announced Friday.
“So much of business, so much of our personal life is now dependent on high-speed internet,” said Citizens’ Services Minister Jinny Sims. “We see it as a foundational piece for rural development and economic growth.”
Communities in the Central Okanagan receiving high-speed internet include Lake Country, Peachland, rural Kelowna, rural West Kelowna and Westside Road from Parker Cove to Kelowna.
North Okanagan communities include Mara, Grindrod, Enderby, Trinity Valley, rural Armstrong and rural Vernon.
More than 1,200 of the homes had no internet access all, while the rest had slow connections.
Sims said she did not know how many people in the Okanagan are still without high-speed internet, but noted only 30 per cent of rural B.C. has access to it.
“We are very committed to reducing the digital divide between the Lower Mainland and the rest of B.C., because we know if the digital divide keeps growing as it is, so will the economic divide,” she said.
Internet service provider ispeed Communications, the company providing internet access to the rural Okanagan, received grant funding of up to $185,000 to bring high-speed internet access to about 3,180 households.
The project finished $72,000 under budget.
“Our customers, many of whom live off grid or operate home-based businesses, have welcomed the increased bandwidth and added reliability resulting from this network upgrade,” said ispeed Communications president Dave Bradich.