Plan to install fibre-optic backbone in Brooks receives $5.4 million grant

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on January 20, 2022.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

A plan by the City of Brooks to install a fibre-optic backbone in that city has received a $5.4-million grant from the Canada Community Building Fund, formerly known as the Gas Tax Fund.

That federal program is allotted to municipalities by the provinces, and can be directed into an array of capital infrastructure projects.

Announcement of the grant was made late Wednesday by the office of the United Conservative Party Caucus.

“These projects and this funding is incredibly important for our communities,” stated Brooks-Medicine Hat MLA Michaela Frey. “I am looking forward to seeing these projects being completed and am always glad to see this level of support from the Alberta government.”

The County of Forty Mile will also receive $350,000 to install 12 kilometres of the line capable of providing faster transfer of electronic information, faster download speeds and better internet and telecommunications service.

In Brooks, the move by the municipality to provide the base infrastructure for line deployment was an election issue last fall. Utility booster John Petrie won the mayoral race. According to a press release from Lite Access Technologies in October, the Vancouver-based firm had secured an agreement on providing work on the initial $14.4-million project.

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