The Best Western Plus Fernie Mountain Lodge hosted an event put on by Telus on Nov. 13.
Representatives from Telus spoke about the new fibre optic network that was completed in Fernie last week. Now 90 per cent of the city is connected to fibre, which means that Fernie is among the two per cent of Canada that is directly connected to a fibre network of some sort and among four per cent of North America.
“We’re here today because of the strong relationship we have with the municipality and local residents as well as our shared vision of making Fernie one of the most connected communities in North America,” said Phil Moore Vice-President of Broadband Operations with Telus.
According to Telus, the new fibre optic network, made from flexible, transparent fibres of glass that are slightly thicker than a strand of hair, transmit data as pulses of light, which allows large amounts of information to be sent to homes or businesses at close to the speed of light.
The $10.2 million project that began in March of this year supported local jobs throughout the past eight months and will enable long-term economic growth in the community.
“Across B.C., there are some beautiful places, like Fernie, where you may want to live but can’t because of limitations in the way you can work,” said Moore. “This removes that barrier. When you are looking to attract inward population growth, the network is a key factor as to where people want to live.
“In the coming years, we will see increasingly more innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, health care and education, all made possible by Telus Fibre. As one of the first communities fully connected to this state-of-the-art network, we believe that Fernie can become a test bed for innovation and technology leadership,” he said.
Fernie Mayor, Mary Giuliano, expressed her gratitude towards Telus at the event. “On behalf of the City of Fernie I want to extend our sincere thanks to Telus for this service,” she said. “It is greatly appreciated. It’s a real privilege to be here to see the advances that have been made in this service and to have this amenity available to the people of Fernie.”