A significant announcement came out of Saddle Hills County on March 12th after a partnership between internet service provider Canadian Fibre Optics, the county, and the provincial and federal government has started to bear fruit.
Project Aurora will see around 1,600km of infrastructure built from the Grande Prairie area throughout Saddle Hills and connects 787 homes directly to fiber internet.
Jodi Bloomer-Kaput, Co-founder of Canadian Fibre Optics, and lifelong Peace Country resident says the project is a welcome one as Saddle Hills County has historically been disconnected from the rest of the province.
“Many companies are doing a great job of putting forward temporary fixes on the issues, some are taking bold steps to build fiber and solve the problem for good, but no one was focused on industry,” she says. “In a region with point four people per square kilometre, this is monumental.”
Bloomer adds that the company has already built fibre in every home in numerous communities in the Grande Prairie region such as Grande Cache, Valleyview, Wembley, Beaverlodge, and Sexsmith. She says the addition of Saddle Hills County is another step in connecting rural communities with the rest of the country and the world.
“We have fiber from Edmonton, up to Fort St. John, and now our partnership with Saddle Hills county, the Government of Alberta, the Government of Canada, has allowed us to think even bigger,” she says.
A schedule for the project has yet to be finalized; however, Bloomer says crews are already beginning operations throughout the county.
“This is a large-scale multi-year project where over 1600 kilometres of infrastructure underground will be built.”
County Reeve Alvin Hubert says the project “can’t be overlooked” as rural municipalities like his continue to embrace digital technology.
“As we look towards a future where digital technology is increasing at the forefront of how we communicate and do business, it can’t be overlooked how much a fiber internet connection means for rural communities like Saddle Hills County” he says.
Connection is free for all Saddle Hills residents, and residents who wish to fill out a fiber request can do so online on the Canadian Fiber Optics website.