Kegaska and La Romaine are about to be digitally transformed with TELUS high-speed Internet and mobile phone service

TELUS kicks off the second deployment phase of its high-speed network in the Lower North Shore to provide all of the region’s communities with access to 4G LTE Advanced technology by 2021

KEGASKA, Quebec, June 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, TELUS announced that, for the first time, the communities of Kegaska and La Romaine (Unamen Shipu) have access to mobile phone service and high-speed home Internet with browsing speeds similar to those available in urban centres. Thanks to an innovative and ambitious project that builds on TELUS’ LTE Advanced wireless technology, around 1,000 citizens in these two communities of the vast and roadless Lower North Shore are now connected for good. They have access to the digital tools needed to transform health care, pursue their studies remotely, optimize the potential of their businesses, and share their rich culture with the rest of the world.

“Connecting Kegaska and La Romaine to one of the fastest and most powerful wireless networks in the world represents a total digital transformation for these two isolated communities,” says Marie-Christine D’Amours, TELUS Vice-President, Consumer Solutions and Customer Experience in Quebec. “TELUS’ ambition is to deploy its infrastructure in remote regions, especially in the unprecedented context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which people are relying on networks for work, education, access to health care, and social contact more than ever before. Our project in the vast Lower North Shore is clearly one of the most complex and ambitious deployments that TELUS has ever undertaken. More importantly, it’s also one of the most crucial as it bridges the digital divide and gives everyone an equal chance to succeed, no matter where they live.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic shows how essential high-speed service is to ensure our region’s economic vitality, keep education going, and provide virtual health care services, while enabling families to stay informed and entertained,” says Darlene Rowsell Roberts, administrator of the municipality of Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent. “Since last November, that same connectivity has brought us together with our loved ones and have encouraged our youth to stay in the region. It is also essential for attracting teachers, entrepreneurs and health care professionals. We can now travel the region safely thanks to the new wireless service, and have access to all the tools we need to share the beauty of our communities with the whole world.”