By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

$75M project bringing fibre optic internet to Nanaimo, Lantzville, area First Nations

Mar 8, 2019 | 11:53 AM

NANAIMO — Nearly all areas of Nanaimo and Lantzville will join the 21st century and prepare for the 22nd with the installation of fibre optic internet.

Telus announced Friday instillation will start on the $75 million project this April to bring their fibre network to roughly 90 per cent of homes and businesses in Nanaimo, Lantzville, Snuneymuxw First Nation and Snaw-Naw-As First Nation.

Though high-speed internet is already widely available through those markets, Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce executive director Kim Smythe told NanaimoNewsNOW it’s a major development for the businesses which need internet the most.

“Tech workers being able to upload and download at extremely high speed. These people are developing data streaming packages where it’s absolutely essential they have that kind of high speed.”

Smythe also said roughly 40 per cent of businesses licensed in Nanaimo are home-based and many require the internet for more than emails.

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“We’ve got a lot of early tech developers working out of their spare bedroom and their basements,” he said.

The fibre infrastructure will be built to every home but Telus representatives stressed home owners don’t have to sign up for Telus upon installation.

A 2015 study analyzing housing prices in the United States showed having a home connected to a fibre network raised the property value roughly three per cent. 

Construction is slated to begin in April and finish in 2021. Faster internet will rollout to the community neighbourhood by neighbourhood over that time.

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