Quebec's Lower North Shore to get cellphone, high-speed internet service, at last
'You have no way of contacting anyone if something goes wrong,' says B&B owner in remote fishing village
People living in one of Quebec's most isolated regions are getting access to reliable internet and cellphone service, after years of repeated demands from local officials and residents.
However, it will take five years before the whole network is up and running.
Quebec and Ottawa announced Wednesday they will jointly invest $22.1 million to build cellphone towers and other telecommunications infrastructure in the Lower North Shore region.
"I think it's wonderful news, not only for our guests but for people here," said Ena Fequet, who has been running the Waterfront B&B in Rivière Saint-Paul, a fishing village 60 kilometres wast of Blanc-Sablon, for nearly 25 years.
Fequet installed a $400 satellite dish and pays $115 a month to provide her guests with a Wi-Fi connection. Still, service is so limited that she has to ask her guests to be mindful of what they use.
"When people come here, if they stream online or if you use all your gigabytes, that slows down to nothing at all," said Fequet.
Fequet said cellphone service is a bigger issue — especially in the event of an emergency.
"You have no way of contacting anyone if something goes wrong," Fequet said.
Fequet said she is thrilled to know people will be able to rely on cellphones when they go for a walk in the forest — or out on the St. Lawrence River.
The coastal region of the Lower North Shore is known for its many islands. Since towns aren't connected by a road system, the main mode of transportation is by water.
Speeding up access
Telus Communications will be responsible for setting up the towers and infrastructures and is investing $1.2 million in the project.
Marie-Christine D'Amours, a spokesperson for Telus Québec, said once the work is completed, 1,750 households and 100 businesses will be connected to the network.
The average navigation speeds of their Internet connections will increase from a bandwidth of 6 Megabits per second (Mbps) to up to 75 Mbps.
The difference will mean downloading a 45-minute television episode will take 46 seconds, instead of 28 minutes, as is the case right now, according to Telus.
Unlimited coverage by 2023
The hefty price people like Fequet are currently paying for internet service will go down substantially, D'Amours said, becoming comparable to rates in the rest of the province.
"When a competitor asks to roam, we have to give them the access," she said.
The company will begin preliminary work in July and cellphone service will gradually be rolled out, beginning in the fall of 2019.
It will take five years for the entire network to be up and running, said D'Amours.
The Quebec government's $11.05-million investment is through the Plan Nord strategy, which focuses on developing Quebec's northern regions.
Ottawa will match that. When the network is complete, 14 communities strung out over nearly 400 kilometres along the St. Lawrence River will have service.