Officials from Red Deer County, the Town of Delburne and Valo Networks were pleased to sign their official contracts today that will help set up Red Deer County for faster, more reliable Internet available to rural residents. 

Essentially, Red Deer County has committed to putting money into the necessary infrastructure and fibre optic connections that will pave the way for better service for rural communities. When and if those communities are ready to connect, they will finance their own pieces to connect into the network. 

The Town of Delburne is the first official partner in this project, which lays the foundation to connect all of Red Deer County to the network in the next five years. This is a cost-effective way of delivering high-quality Internet to communities. 

"Things like this just don't happen without partnerships, and I want to acknowledge Delburne in this partnership because unless you have an economy to scale, this doesn't work for anyone," said Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood. 

Wood said he recognizes this is a service that could have been offered through the private sector, but that it has taken far too long and residents need to be brought into the age of digital connection.

"This is the time for the government to put some money in, and I'm hoping that we're an example to other levels of government as well for what's truly necessary to happen in Alberta," he said. 

Daren Young, the IT Manager for Red Deer County, said it's been a long time coming and that this is an important step forward for RDC. 

"It's really quite unique when compared to other community development or fibre development in Alberta. It's a private-public partnership, and it fits nicely into our wheelhouse as an alternative services organization," Young said, explaining that this means they contract the majority of their work out with partnering agencies as is being done in this example. 

"For us, in that way, it makes sense. We are building the fibre and we've hired a company to manage that contract and then to provide the services over the area which for them, makes delivery cheaper which makes our pricing for constituents cheaper. It makes sense to help us maintain our assets over a longer period of time."

The total cost for the project is estimated to be a maximum $20 million for the County over the five years, but Young said the cost of the project will likely come in lower as they continue to look for efficiencies and technology that will help them to fulfill the contract at the lowest cost. 

To find out more information regarding the development of this project, stay in touch with Red Deer County.