Work is underway to improve internet services for education bodies in the NWT and some government departments.
The GNWT will prepare a request for proposals (RFP) to improve internet services, Infrastructure Minister Diane Archie said in the legislative assembly on Friday.
However, she couldn't give a timeline for the RFP process due to the fact she was SA国际影视传媒渕ade aware" of the problem of bandwidth at schools just 42 minutes earlier when Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly raised the issue of low internet capacity in Yellowknife.
O'Reilly explained to the assembly that the three school boards in Yellowknife and Aurora College share an internet connection of 300 megabytes per second that is provided by the GNWT.
SA国际影视传媒淭hat's about equivalent to your cable modem at home. This is for four entire school organizations. This is a totally inadequate allotment,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淓ven without the increased distance demands of Covid-19, providing students adequate opportunity to learn and use technology is an essential part of modern education. Failure to provide needed technical infrastructure puts our students at a disadvantage compared to learners in other jurisdictions and even within communities here.SA国际影视传媒�
Limited internet access puts low-income families and post-secondary students in a vulnerable position in particular, he added.
SA国际影视传媒淯nless our students have access and affordable internet, education is not universal.SA国际影视传媒�
Education minister concurs on problem
Education Minister R.J. Simpson agreed with O'Reilly that limited bandwidth is a territory-wide problem that affects the legislative assembly, schools and even Simpson's own house and his constituency office.
Simpson explained that the topic of internet accessibility is discussed often among cabinet members, including with the Infrastructure minister and with other ministers of education across Canada.
SA国际影视传媒淲e've approached the federal government about the need for investments in broadband infrastructure,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
Turning to the issue of students, the education minister said the Student Financial Assistance program offers a monthly technology grant of $100 to help students access funding and Aurora College students are eligible for a one-time grant to help set up internet.
Simpson also said blended learning can help mitigate the challenges of limited internet access.
SA国际影视传媒淵ou don't need internet for everything in schools. I think most people in here got through school without using the internet in every single class, for better or for worse, but it can be done.SA国际影视传媒�
Internet access ongoing issue
The exchange on internet access comes more than two months after Northwestel announced that its unlimited fibre internet packages for residential and business customers would be available on Dec. 1, 2020 in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River and Norman Wells.
That was followed weeks later by a presentation from Northwestel president Curtis Shaw, who told a standing committee meeting that unlimited internet service at high speeds will be coming to almost all NWT communities by 2023 through fibre-to-the-home or low-earth orbit satellite connections.
But in that same month, executives of three NWT telecommunications companies told a standing committee that the GNWT needs to do more to foster competition in the telecommunications market that they said favours Northwestel.
Better competition would help NWT companies benefit from building more regional and local networks, they said.
