Improving connection in Creston

With a significant Telus investment underway, Creston residents can look forward to improved Internet speed and infrastructure

1 of 2Using fibre-optic technology, pulses of light are sent along glass strands. — DelafrayeNicolas/iStock/Thinkstock

2 of 2Mayor Ron Toyota looks forward to improved Internet infrastructure in Creston. — Photo courtesy Town of Creston

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In Creston, B.C., Telus is at work to implement a $4 million investment that will see big upgrades to Internet infrastructure in the community.

“Telus has made a commitment to the Town of Creston and outlying area that it’s going to bring fibre optic here,” said Creston’s mayor, Ron Toyota. “We’re quite pleased because in that whole realm of things it gives us a much better communication and quality of signal for telephone, Internet and television.”

Through the installation of a fibre optic cable system in Creston, residents will be provided with a significant increase to Internet speeds and access to Telus’s Optik TV. The initiative comes free of cost for the town, which was chosen by Telus for the expansion. Creston has been the first community chosen in the Kootenays. The company is investing deeply into B.C., helping to bring rural communities up to speed while connecting remote areas and expanding its 4G LTE wireless service.

Fibre optic Internet is expected to be available to some neighbourhoods in Creston as early as July 2014, with other areas ready for service through August and September. See Telus’s online map for an idea of timelines of availability. Over 90 per cent of Creston’s homes will be serviced with the updated technology as well as parts of the surrounding area, including much of Erickson. Telus will also be enhancing cell coverage on the Highway 3 corridor surrounding the Creston Valley.

The move is certainly a positive one for local businesses. Being connected to the fastest Internet infrastructure available will help with communications and technology reliability. Once installed, the fibre optic network is expected to offer Internet speeds up to 100 megabits per second.

“By enabling small- and medium-sized businesses to operate here in Creston while competing globally, we’re helping keep people and their businesses here at home, where they want to be,” said Steven Jenkins, Telus general manager for the Southern Interior. “Furthermore, organizations will be able to innovate how they deliver services such as health care and education, which will have a positive, lasting impact on all of us in Creston.”