Internet speeds triple in Fort Liard, Kakisa
Fort Liard mayor credits Northwestel for responding to community concerns
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, June 2, 2016
DEH CHO
Internet-users in Kakisa and Fort Liard now have some relief from slow connection speeds, now that Northwestel has hooked up 15-megabits-per-second Internet.
On May 24, the telecommunications company announced it would be tripling its Internet speeds in the two communities.
The announcement comes right in the middle of the company's five-year modernization plan, which began in 2013 and aims to allow similar speeds in 46 communities across the North by the time it wraps up in 2017.
Aside from speed increases, Northwestel has also increased the monthly data allowance per customer by 60 per cent, to a monthly maximum of 200 gigabytes.
Fort Liard Mayor Steven Steeves said he was pleased the increase came to his community, adding the service boost will help both the hamlet office and students at Echo Dene School.
Mayor pushes for infrastructure improvement
Steeves initially had concern due to the fact Fort Liard's name did not appear on Northwestel's map of community upgrades. However, those concerns were alleviated at a recent meeting of territorial mayors in Yellowknife.
"I actually met with Northwestel when I went into (that meeting) ... I just had to talk to them and tell them what's going on, and right away they were very apologetic," he said, adding he was impressed with the company's response.
"They were talking about this and I looked (at the map) and said, 'How come Fort Liard's name is not even on this?' I said, 'I get a bill from you guys all the time, and why's our Internet so slow?' In a matter of two, three weeks, they were putting it all in."
He said staff at the hamlet office had to fight against freezing web pages due to the slowness of the Internet.
"This is going to help out our school - this is one of the things the principal (of Echo Dene School) wanted," Steeves said.
Helpful for school
"When our kids get on the Internet all at once, in their science classes, et cetera, it would slow right down to a crawl."
He added the Internet upgrades will be useful in the interim until the community can afford to tie into the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link.
A spokesperson for Northwestel was not able to answer questions on the upgrades by press time.
