‘Time for… the network for the future’

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This article was published 02/03/2020 (2047 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers should start saying goodbye to copper wire and hello to fibre optics.

Bell MTS is launching a $400-million construction project that involves installing fibre optic cables throughout the city. Close to 275,000 Winnipeg residences and businesses will be connected to state-of-the-art fibre optics that will boost capacity and Internet speeds to the fastest in North America.

The investment is part of the commitment Bell made when regulators cleared its $3.9-billion acquisition of MTS in March 2017. At the time, Bell said it would invest $1 billion in Manitoba’s network infrastructure in the ensuing five years.

“We are going to rebuild the city’s communications infrastructure,” said Bell Canada and BCE Inc.’s new CEO, Mirko Bibic.

“Winnipeg’s original communications infrastructure was built on legacy copper wire like everywhere else in the country. That’s copper wire that has been in the ground for 50, 60, 70, 80 years. Now it is time for us to deliver the network for the future.”

It is the largest single capital investment in Bell’s five-year commitment to Manitoba and it is the largest current capital project in the company’s entire network, after a similar project began in Montreal in 2017.

Industry experts believe it is the kind of investment that will infuse confidence in the community for existing businesses and consumers. It will also give future investors a level of reliance that they will have the digital backbone to manage and grow their digital traffic.

Loren Remillard, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said Bell’s commitment to Winnipeg is a sign of confidence, and that this market warrants such a high expenditure.

“People are making these kinds of investments around the world,” Remillard said.

“Businesses need to make sure they have access to the best technology that is available to them. They are competing against companies worldwide. They need to have that foundational infrastructure in place to be able to continue to not only meet their needs but to develop the newest offerings in the marketplace.”

Winnipeg’s burgeoning tech sector has had challenges with connectivity in the past.

Joelle Foster, CEO of North Forge Venture Exchange, said companies are going to notice the difference right away.

“When you are online a lot, you notice it when speeds are not up to par,” she said. “It will make a big difference in how they are connecting with the rest of Canada and the world.”

The multi-year project, which has already begun, is expected to take about three years.

It will create about 1,100 direct and indirect jobs. Bell estimates it will generate about $900 million in economic activity.

The work involves laying the fibre optic cables underground via existing municipal conduits, then lashing the new cables to existing aerial telephone lines for the final distance to the homes.

In newer neighbourhoods that do not have telephone poles, the work will require underground trenching.

Bell MTS will contract with a number of suppliers to undertake this work, including ACME Technical Services, Aecon, Central Telecom, Crown Pipeline, Mobia Technology Innovations, WP Teletronics and Valard.

Bibic said Bell MTS will not have any problem meeting its promise to spend $1 billion in five years.

Bibic said, “It is really irrelevant because we will surpass (the $1 billion mark) and we will keep investing. It’s not like we hit $1 billion and everything stops and the tap turns off.”

Since 2017, Bell MTS has extended its fibre connections to more than 30 communities in the province. It recently announced a fibre optic rollout in Flin Flon.

As well, the company claims its LTE Advanced mobile service now reaches 90 per cent of the provincial population including coverage along Highway 75 from Winnipeg to the U.S. border, and previously underserved communities such as Churchill, Cross Lake, Berens River, Glenboro, Gods Lake Narrows, and the Jackhead reserve.

Work is underway to complete LTE coverage along Highway 6 from Winnipeg to Thompson.

This announcement was made just after the CRTC wrapped up hearings to consider regulations that would force facilities-based carriers, such as Bell, Telus and Rogers, to allow new companies — known as mobile virtual network operators — to rent capacity on those networks and re-sell services at lower rates.

Bibic said if those regulations take effect, it would curtail the kind of investment that Bell MTS announced on Monday. He said Bell’s investment is the kind of progress the economy depends on as the digital economy becomes more mature and new advances in technology make even more applications possible.

“From a public policy perspective and from an economic growth perspective, government leaders and industry leaders ought to be working together to make sure announcements like today’s get repeated over and over again,” Bibic said.

“The problem… about giving access to our networks is that if (the CRTC) mandates access the way that is being contemplated, investments like the one today will not repeat themselves.”

He said Bell MTS is forging ahead with the big fibre build in Manitoba because Bell honours its commitments.

“But,” he said, “I worry about being able to make investments like this in the next city, and the next city, and the one after that.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca