Northwestel has launched full fibre internet services in three of the territory’s communities.
The service is now available in Dawson, Watson Lake and Upper Liard. It includes unlimited data packages and internet speeds that are 16 times faster, according to the company.
Maximum residential download speeds have increased from 15 Mbps to 250 Mbps, “and now far surpass the CRTC’s universal service objective of 50 Mbps. Internet rates will now match those available in the North’s major centres,” a Northwestel press release announced on Nov. 1.
The work represents the first fibre upgrades in the Yukon of Northwestel’s Every Community project, a three-year plan to bring high-speed internet to communities in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
“Northwestel is proud to be bringing fibre-to-the-home to Yukon communities for the very first time,” said Northwestel president Curtis Shaw in a statement.
“This is the same leading network technology that connects homes in Canada’s largest southern cities and now we’re using full fibre connections to close the digital divide in Canada’s most northern communities. This is just the beginning and we look forward to connecting customers to fibre in every land-served rural community in the Yukon and NWT over the next two years.”
The addition of the three Yukon communities means there are now a total of five northern communities served primarily by fibre, with Hay River and Inuvik in the NWT also seeing upgrades in 2021.
Dawson City, Watson Lake and Upper Liard residents will also be the first Yukoners to have access to Northwestel TV Plus which allows customers to watch live HD TV content on a big screen or mobile device.
The new services can be ordered through Northwestel’s website.
Contact Stephanie Waddell at stephanie.waddell@yukon-news.com