OLDS — The town is supporting Red Deer County’s application for more government funds to continue installing broadband across the county.
Council voted to ask administrative staff last month to write a letter in support of the project.
That decision came after town staff received a request from Red Deer County for that letter.
Chief administrative officer Brent Williams told council that such letters are one requirement in order to obtain money from the federal Universal Broadband Fund (UBF).
The $3.225 billion UBF provides money to help fund high-speed Internet projects across the country.
The goal is to enable 100 per cent of the country to have access to high-speed internet by 2030.
A project to install broadband has been underway in Red Deer County for several years. Now they’re working on the next stage of the project.
In his pitch to council for the letter, Williams pointed out that Red Deer County is basically a neighbour of Olds and that for many years itself, Olds has been “a proponent of rural connectivity.”
“Given the age of their former letter of support, they have been requested by the fund to update their letters of support, so they have requested one from the town,” he said.
Mayor Judy Dahl said the project would be good for all county residents, improving their computer connections with the outside world.
