A Quebec government program supporting municipalities, band councils, non-profits and co-ops wanting to set up rural high-speed Internet service will now allow them to hire the work out to private firms.
The Communautes rurales branchees (“Connected rural communities”) program has been tweaked to allow eligible groups to hire private companies to install and operate high-speed lines on the groups’ behalf.
Former agriculture minister Laurent Lessard, now the province’s municipal affairs minister, announced the changes Thursday.
Non-profits and co-ops interested in building and operating high-speed Internet service aren’t as easy to find in some rural regions, he said.
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And while municipalities may be willing, they may not have the financial wherewithal to own and operate such a service, he added.
While the changes to the funding program allow the groups to farm out the operation of rural high-speed service, the groups would still maintain control over the local level, standards and types of services offered, he said.
As well, a group that contracts out high-speed operations to a private firm can only use the program to cover 50 per cent of eligible costs, to a maximum of $1.2 million.
As per the original program rules, municipalities, band councils, non-profits or co-ops that undertake the setup and operation of rural high-speed on their own can get back up to 66.67 per cent of eligible costs, up to $1.5 million.
