The Quebec government is launching the Éclair III component to extend high-speed internet access to the thousands of households that are still not covered with a deployment project, by September 2022.
With a budget of $ 150 million, this third and final component of Operation High Speed will, for example, provide coverage for homes that are very isolated or that were not initially listed on the maps.
Like the Éclair I and Éclair II components, announced in March and July 2021 respectively, this is part of the continuation of government initiatives aimed at providing all Quebec families with access to a quality Internet service at an affordable cost.
“As the mapping work progresses, in the field, we are identifying areas without high-speed Internet access which were not listed and which are therefore not covered by any deployment project,” explains Gilles Bélanger, Parliamentary Assistant to the Prime Minister (High-Speed Internet component). We estimate that between 15,000 and 30,000 households are in this situation across Quebec. The Éclair III component will therefore allow us to intervene to ensure that no home will be forgotten.”
Minister André Lamontagne specifies that the government has made a strong commitment to the population. “Despite the pitfalls to get there, we have never given up on this issue that is so critical for hundreds of communities across Quebec. Here, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, there are still around 900 households that do not have access to this service. We will continue to work until the last home has service.”
Highlights:
- To date, the Government of Quebec alone has invested $ 1.3 billion to speed up high-speed Internet connections to all Quebec households by fall 2022.
- On March 22nd, 2021, the governments of Quebec and Canada launched Operation High Speed, which will allow Quebec to have the highest connectivity rate in Canada, with a percentage of over 99%.
- The Régions branchées and Éclair I components are targeting 148,000 households, for a combined investment of $ 826.3 million by the governments of Canada and Quebec.
- The Éclair II component, launched on July 21st, targets 18,200 additional households, for a combined investment of $ 94 million by the governments of Canada and Quebec.
- All projects funded by Operation High Speed must be completed in September 2022.
