Around 17,000 B.C. households are getting high-speed internet in a new Telus deal.
The Canada Infrastructure Bank is lending Telus $49.3 million to bring high-speed internet to rural and Indigenous communities across British Columbia, the two announced on July 3. That works out to about $2,900 per home to get fibre to each location.
The money will pay for new broadband access in parts of B.C. that have been stuck without decent service. When it’s done, more than 17,000 underserved households in rural municipalities should be able to get online, including roughly 380 Indigenous households.
“Through the continued partnership with the Canada Infrastructure Bank, the Government of Canada, and the Government of British Columbia, TELUS is proud to expand our TELUS PureFibre network to rural and Indigenous communities across BC. This investment ensures families, schools, governments, and businesses—wherever they are—can connect, learn, grow and thrive in a digital world. Together we are building a more equitable, stronger, more connected Canada,” said Liz Wong, Telus vice-president of national network planning, in a statement on Friday.
The project runs under the province’s Connecting Communities BC program, with the federal government pitching in through the Universal Broadband Fund. Telus is handling everything on the ground, from building and installing the network to running and maintaining it once it’s live. The work covers both backbone and last-mile infrastructure, with fibre-to-the-home going right to people’s doors.
This is the second time the CIB and Telus have teamed up to expand internet service in Canada. The federal crown corporation’s financing is meant to speed things up in areas where laying fibre is expensive.
Ehren Cory, CEO of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, said the loan makes these projects work in places where they otherwise wouldn’t work out.
“The CIB’s loan will help bring reliable, high-speed internet to underserved rural and Indigenous communities across British Columbia and improves project viability in regions where fibre optic connectivity is costly. Our work helps close the connectivity gap in communities so Canadians can fully participate in the digital world, with access to the services, opportunities and connections that come with it,” Cory said.
On Canada Day, Telus saw some big changes at the executive level, as new CEO Victor Dodig took over from Darren Entwistle.
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Why don’t they just use Starlink?