The Legault government is committed to completing cellular coverage in Quebec by 2026. (Archive photo)
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The MP for Bonaventure, Catherine Blouin, affirms that Gaspésie will be in the first phase of deployment of the project which aims to improve cellular coverage in 11 remote and underserved regions.
This will be the case, says Catherine Blouin, also mentioning that she does not want to make an official announcement.
A budget is a game plan global, and after that there are detailed and specific announcements throughout the year. But what I can tell you is that, from the first quarter of the budget, which begins on April 1, I expect to have positive news for Gaspésie to be announced very, very soon, specifies the MP.< /p>Open in full screen mode
The Member of Parliament for Bonaventure, Catherine Blouin (Archive photo)
For the first phase of deployment, which involves the construction of 100 cell towers, the government is targeting the security aspect as a priority element. Places without a signal or along a road would therefore be prioritized by Quebec for the installation of the first towers.
Catherine Blouin and her counterpart, the MP for Orford, Gilles Bélanger, also parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Finance for connectivity, confirm that a mapping of future cell towers was done over the past year.
The Gaspé MP indicates that this mapping made it possible to identify the needs in terms of cellular coverage and that the first phase of the deployment of cellular coverage will follow shortly.
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What we have in the budget is an envelope that is added to an amount that was already there for phase 1 of deployment of cellular coverage, where there will be 100 towers deployed, explains the elected official.
According to information obtained by Radio-Canada, the amount of $25 million granted in the 2024-2025 budget is added to the envelope of approximately $160 million of dollars that was intended for the high-speed internet operation, a project that is essentially completed and delivered.
Quebec therefore has around $185 million for the construction of around a hundred cell towers. But according to MP Gilles Bélanger, the number of towers projected for the moment would not meet all the needs in terms of cellular coverage in Quebec.
We estimate that it could go up to 700 infrastructures to cover the entire territory of Quebec, except that that is not what we are going to do, mentioned Mr. Bélanger on the airwaves of Radio-Canada.
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Gilles Bélanger, MP for Orford for the Coalition Avenir Québec (Archive photo)
Between 300 and 400 towers could be built, and existing infrastructure as well as mobile satellite technology could make up for the rest, he explains.
The locations of the new towers should be revealed shortly, once the tender process is completed.
Natasha Kumar has been a reporter on the news desk since 2018. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining The Times Hub, Natasha Kumar worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my natasha@thetimeshub.in 1-800-268-7116
