Canada’s largest telecommunication company has abandoned a $32-million high-speed internet project intended to connect remote Inuit and Innu communities along Labrador’s north coast, instead opting to invest $5 billion to “expand its Fibre blueprint” in the U.S.
This move comes despite Bell having received millions in taxpayer-funded support from federal and provincial governments.
The Nunatsiavut Government said the cancellation came as a “shock and deep disappointment.”
Bell scrapped the Labrador North Wireless Broadband Project citing a 340 per cent rise in costs and declining subscriber numbers.
Originally announced in 2022 with $22.3 million in public funding, the project aimed to provide broadband and cell coverage to more than 1,000 households in one of the country’s most underserved regions.
Bell reportedly told the government the cost of completion had risen to $110 million, up from $32 million.
While leaving behind remote Indigenous communities in Canada, Bell Canada’s parent company BCE Inc. plans to acquire American fibre internet provider Ziply Fiber in a deal worth $5 billion.
The report states the deal will make Bell the third-largest fibre internet provider in North America.
Adding insult to injury, the cancellation came as BCE confirmed over $5 million in executive bonuses, despite laying off 4,800 employees earlier this year and reporting a 2.4 per cent drop in annual revenues.
Unifor, Canada’s largest private sector Union’s national President Lana Payne said on April 3rd; “The company laid off thousands, its stock went down by 30 per cent, and yet, the richest and most powerful continue to profit off the backs of our members.”
Unifor has since launched an anti-bell campaign titled, “Shame on Bell,” which focused on Bell’s recent decision to automate or offshore its worker needs, continuing to cause layoffs for Canadian workers.
Bell has long been a recipient of corporate welfare under the Trudeau government which has shown particular favouritism.
In 2022 alone, Bell subsidiaries received over $22 million in taxpayer dollars.
The company has also participated in programs funded by the Universal Broadband Fund, a $3.2-billion initiative championed by the Liberals to expand rural internet access.