Faster internet and cell service promised to more than 125,000 Manitobans

The provincial government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Xplornet Communications to provide hundreds of rural and remote communities with internet and cellphone service.

Under the deal, nearly 30 First Nations and approximately 270 rural and northern communities will be connected to high-speed broadband services, while 350 communities will also receive cellphone service for the first time, Premier Brian Pallister and Central Services Minister Reg Helwer said at a news conference on Wednesday.

"The COVID pandemic has been the most disruptive event of our lifetimes, I would say. Lives and livelihoods have been upended and transformed beyond what any of us could have possibly imagined," Pallister said.

"Being connected and living virtually are no longer choices," he said. "They're necessities."

Xplornet will use surplus capacity on thousands of kilometres of fibre-optic cable across Manitoba put in place to help Manitoba Hydro communicate with northern hydroelectric facilities and transmit data, the province said.

The expansion of services will connect 97 per cent of Manitoba's currently unserved or under-served communities, Helwer said.

Bill Macdonald, Xplornet's executive vice-president of business development, said some of the under-served communities have some cellphone or broadband but "this will offer another choice."

Xplornet already has a presence in the province.

As part of Bell's acquisition of MTS in 2017, it was required by the federal Competition Bureau to sell off some wireless spectrum to another carrier, for the sake of competition. Prior to the merger, there were four wireless carriers: MTS, Bell, Telus and Rogers.

Xplornet stepped in to fill the gap when Bell took over MTS, acquiring 24,700 MTS subscribers.

The provincial government, Manitoba Hydro and Manitoba Hydro Telecom are collaborating to finalize the memorandum of understanding with Xplornet in the coming weeks, and the expanded broadband and cellphone services are expected to be available as early as this fall, Pallister and Helwer said.

Macdonald said the company is ready to go as soon as it gets the word. It intends to roll out the service in phases that will take about two years altogether, he said.

The importance of a solid internet connection — especially in northern Manitoba — has been underscored throughout the past 14 months, as people have to work and learn from home, attend virtual medical appointments and connect with loved ones, said Adrian Sala, the Opposition NDP's Hydro critic, during a news conference.

But Sala sees Thursday's announcement as the transfer of publicly owned fibre optics to the private sector.

"That is not something to be celebrated," he said.

"Handing over control over this publicly owned fibre optic cable to a private company will have some major impacts."

Sala predicts costs for broadband internet will increase and broadband service is unlikely to expand to isolated or northern communities because Xplornet has incentive to stay in more populated areas, he said.

The move may also shut out "a large number" of Manitoba-based internet providers because they may no longer be able to access the fibre cable, he added.

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont told reporters Thursday that the party has heard from businesses that they are worried they will be kicked off the network.

"There is no reason for internet service to be giving private monopolies to a single company," said Lamont. "That is not how it has to work. That is not how the internet was built."

Lamont is also skeptical because he has heard promises of improving connection in rural areas for years but nothing has rolled out, he added.

The Progressive Conservatives ought to be bolstering Manitoba Hydro Telecom, a subsidiary of the Crown corporation, to expand broadband across the province, Sala said.