Early this year, Council decided to take a look at all of the available options before making any big decisions about bringing fibreoptic services into town. There are a number of options out there, and the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP) is currently investigating them, along with its partnering communities.
The information update, provided by the CRP, is below. Contained within that update are links to 2 videos presented by communities that are already investing/invested in fibreoptics/broadband infrastructure. The “Olds Story” video is approximately 54 minutes long, and the City of Calgary presentation is approximately 36 minutes. Both are on the YouTube platform. If this topic is of interest to you, we highly recommend you take the time to watch them both, and read the CRP’s update document.
Calgary Regional Partnership Update
If you’re interested in Broadband and Digital Connectivity – you’ll want to check this out !
A few weeks ago the Calgary Regional Partnership’s Economic Prosperity Steering Committee had the good fortune of listening to two excellent presentations about the development of broadband and digital connectivity systems at the municipal level – one for the Town of Olds (O-Net) and the other for the City of Calgary. Below you will find links to each of these presentations that we hope will inform and inspire broadband discussions underway or about to begin in your communities.
The Olds story was told by Joe Gustafson, a visionary and pragmatic community leader in Olds. Joe, along with many others, has provided strong leadership in developing Olds’ widely-recognized community fiber/broadband network over the past dozen years or so – pioneering new approaches for a “just do it locally” solution. Telling the story with Joe in this video is Norm McInnis, Town Manager for Olds, who speaks to the unique relationship that the town has with its community partners and reflects on “the why” of why a municipality would jump into this endeavour as boldly as the Town of Olds has done. An important story for all of us to understand!
The Calgary Digital Connectivity Strategy presentation jumps in from a different perspective, explaining “why” The City of Calgary, over the past dozen years, has developed very intentional and progressive fiber network strategies to ensure the digital connectivity essential to enable the complex delivery of municipal services and support an open, competitive environment for fiber and internet service providers. An overview of the City’s approach is provided by Heather Reed-Fenske, the City of Calgary’s Chief Information Technology Officer. Calgary’s strategy is then explained by David Basto, the City’s Business Leader – Network Infrastructure lead. This is a very unique and informative presentation and one that focuses on issues that urban municipalities, in particular, should be thinking about as they envisage municipal service delivery in the not-too-distant future!
Finally, the Calgary Regional Partnership is currently undertaking a region-wide broadband and digital connectivity investigation with the assistance of Craig Dobson, Principal at Taylor Warwick Consulting Limited. The project is funded, in part, by our partners at the Province’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade who are very proactive in helping Alberta region’s assess their broadband goals, opportunities and next steps. The results of the Calgary Region’s investigation will be available in the Fall of 2016 and we will be happy to share our learnings with those interested at that time.
Enjoy the wisdom in these presentations – they are rich !!
Calgary Region Economic Development Alliance (REDA)
Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP)