Bell MTS gets $1.3M to build broadband

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This article was published 05/08/2022 (628 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bell MTS has been awarded about $1.3 million from the CRTC’s Broadband Fund to build high-speed internet connectivity and cellphone capacity in three northern Manitoba communities.

While the largest telco in the province is not known for pushing its high quality network into previously inaccessible and underserviced regions of the province, its senior executive said there will be more of these kinds of projects to come.

It received $863,000 to build high speed Internet infrastructure to 600 households in Snow Lake and Cranberry Portage and $487,000 to upgrade cell service along Highway 20 near Camperville.

Ryan Klassen, vice-president business solutions and vice-chair of Bell MTS Bell’s Western Canadian operations, said the company has other applications submitted to the Broadband Fund as well as ISED’s (Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada) Universal Broadband Fund.

Klassen said the company does not disclose how much it is investing of its own resources in the projects for competitive reasons.

“We are looking at trying to connect all Manitobans with our services,” Klassen said. “We we are really happy with the three projects just announced and there is more that we are looking to want to do.”

Again Klassen would not be specific about where or how much of an investment it is making in subsequent developments.

But he did say that Bell MTS has surpassed the $1-billion of investment it said it would make in the province five years ago when Bell acquired MTS in March 2017.

“We are not going to stop,” he said. “We will keep investing where we see opportunities to continue to provide service to the market.”

The goal of the CRTC’s Broadband Fund is to have 100 per cent of the country connected to high-speed Internet by 2030.

Klassen said the fact that a rich and highly profitable company like Bell needs financial support from the public sector to get into some remote areas is an indication of just how difficult some of these projects can be.

“There are locations throughout the province where it just is not economically viable to do it on our own,” Klassen said. “These types of programs really do help with the economic viability of these types of builds.”

Asked if he thought it was doable to have the entire province connected by 2030, Klassen said it was not something he could speculate on.

While he would not give a time frame for more such projects from Bell MTS, he said, “What I can say is we are continuing to work through opportunities whether they are funded through our own programs or in partnerships with other programs that exist. We are very hopeful to see many more of these types of announcements.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca