Matawa First Nations has joined the First Mile Connectivity Consortium.
The consortium is a First Nations, community-based telecommunications organization established to support remote and rural communities’ efforts to develop essential and appropriate broadband connections. MFNM joined in order to build more capacity for the Rapid Lynx project.
“Matawa First Nations Management is pleased to join the First Mile Connectivity Consortium (FMCC),” said Jason Rasevych, Matawa’s economic development manager , in a Nov. 2 news release.
“The FMCC is actively involved in research, outreach and policy development that will benefit our communities from sharing the broad range of experiences that other First Nations are challenged with across Canada.
“As we work on the design and build of the next generation fibre to the home network (FTTH) that will service our remote First Nations, we will explore different opportunities to influence federal policy related to First Nations broadband infrastructure.”
The Rapid Lynx project will install fibre-to-the-home, high-speed broadband internet in five fly-in/remote Indigenous communities: Nibinamik, Neskantaga, Webequie, Eabametoong and Marten Falls.
On Oct. 6 of this year, the provincial and federal governments announced nearly $70 million in funding to support the project.
The consortium utilizes the First Mile approach to network infrastructure development, which includes local broadband ownership and control over local telecom networks and infrastructure.
