Aboriginal people in the north will soon be able to get the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network on their television screens from satellites.
Heritage Canada agreed last year it would pay the installation costs for satellite dishes and receivers from Bell ExpressVu for aboriginal households north of 60-degree latitude to ensure aboriginals received the signal, but it was only approved last week by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
APTN's Sylvia Kolopenuk said on today the action is being done because the station is phasing out its transmitter towers. The CRTC was told the towers have become too costly to maintain.
"(We) are trying to ensure the APTN viewers who currently receive this signal continue to have access to our network," Kolopenuk said.
According to information given to the CRTC, the program will benefit as many as 92 communities in the future, but at first 660 residents in 17 communities will get them.
PREVIOUS
