Heffley and Little Heffley Lake soon to be wired on high speed

The communities of Heffley Lake and Little Heffley Lake will soon have high speed Internet connectivity, thanks to grants from the Connecting Citizens Grant program.

Mascon Cable Systems will provide the high speed Internet service to both of these communities. The company was approved for $50,000 for each community. Once the service becomes operational, residents can apply for high speed Internet, digital TV and digital phone.

The Connecting Citizens Grant Program enables remote and rural communities to have Internet connectivity by providing grants that will help fund the infrastructure needed for the service.

Whitecroft Village also received broadband service last year from Mascon Cable Systems using the same grant.

“It’s going be exactly like Whitecroft. The extension that we did in Whitecroft, we’re going to extend into that and tie it all the way down to Little Heffley,” said Darren Muloin, manager of Mascon Cable Systems.
Because the announcement of the approved grants was delayed, the project will not start until the fall of this year.

“We hope to have service running by December,” said Muloin.
One thing that set this application apart for Mascon is the incredible outpouring of support from the community.

“The grants were given largely based on the support that those people gave us. We probably got 40 or 50 letters out of an area that probably only has 40 or 50 homes,” he said, adding that it was probably the most support they’ve received from a community for a Connecting Citizens Grant application.

“It was great to see the banding of that whole area because it made a huge difference.”

These approved grants are included in the 51 connectivity projects, totalling $2.34 million that will take part this year under the program.

For more information, visit www.network.gov.bc.ca.