A major announcement for the Slocan Valley today. Kootenay-West MLA Katrine Conroy was in Castlegar to announce a major investment in connectivity for residents in communities from the Playmore Junction to Shoreholme, just north of Nakusp. The over $7-million project involves significant funding from the Province and the Columbia Basin Trust. The CBT’s President and CEO Johnny Strilaeff said over a year of work is now coming together.
“There’s community elements to it: where do you put in infrastructure? There’s technical elements to it: what type of equipment do you put in place and where? And then of course financial elements: how’s the money put together? How can we actually come together and succeed? So it does take a lot of time and that’s what makes today so rewarding, it’s literally the culmination of all that.”
The Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation will start to install the 125 kilometres of fibre-optic infrastructure shortly which will allow internet providers to provide high speed connectivity.
“It’s a great time for it. We are having the melt, obviously weather conditions need to be conducive to make it happen. But our staff at Columbia Basin Broadband Corporation have been waiting for this. They are just waiting for certain permits and certain weather conditions and they will start shortly.”
Over $500,000 is also coming from the Regional District of Central Kootenay.
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