cover image: The Digital Divide: Broadband Connectivity in Inuit Nunangat

20.500.12592/n99z5x

The Digital Divide: Broadband Connectivity in Inuit Nunangat

5 Aug 2021

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami The Digital Divide: Broadband Connectivity in Inuit Nunangat 1 Broadband Connectivity in Inuit Nunangat Canada is ranked relatively high among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations in terms of the proportion of the population connected to broadband internet, as well as the broadband speeds available to them. [...] The National Inuit Strategy on Research (NISR) calls for investment in broadband access and regional capacity to engage in Inuit Nunangat research.16 Inuit have also linked advancements in technology to potential improvements in service delivery, including the potential for telehealth videoconferencing to improve access to psychiatric and psychological care.17 However, the viability of such techno. [...] KRG secured $125 million in federal and provincial support in 2018 for its initiative to use fibre optic cables, microwave towers, and surplus satellite capacity to improve connectivity in the region.44 The seabed along the Hudson's Bay coast was mapped between Chisasibi and Puvirnituq the same year and the KRG intends to lay a fibre optic cable along the coast between the two communities in the s. [...] The territorial government secured $151 million in federal funding to finance the $209 million plan, and hopes to put out a public procurement in late 2021 seeking a firm to complete the project.47 8 Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami The Digital Divide: Broadband Connectivity in Inuit Nunangat The Kivalliq region of Nunavut may also become connected to Canada’s fibre network. [...] By the end of 2019, state aid granted since 2011 to support the strategy had helped build 25,000 kilometers of fibre networks and has led to precipitous year over year increases in the number of broadband subscriptions sold in the country.55 The Arctic Connect project, which aims to improve connectivity in the Arctic and between Europe and Asia, would link Europe and Asia through a submarine fibre.

Authors

Robert Hoselton

Pages
20
Published in
Canada