High River Town Council held a Committee of the Whole meeting Monday, June 19, to get a report from IBI Group consultants.

Keith Ponton with IBI was on hand to bring council up to date on their findings regarding broadband Internet service in the central business district.

He says, their survey of businesses showed there's an appetite for it.

"It definitely showed a strong bias in terms of the need for broadband as well as a bias towards action for the Town to take a positive step in investing in broadband," he says.

Council was given three options: do nothing, become the wholesalers, owning the infrastructure or retailers, owning and operating everything.

Ponton says there are advantages and disadvantages in the last two.

He says, as wholesalers the Town would install the infrastructure and the operators would "light it up." Costs would be around $388,000 over five years with operating expenses of $116,000 a year. Under this model, if something goes wrong, customers would call the operator who would determine if the issue is theirs or the Town's.

As a retailer the Town would install and operate the system which would cost the Town $675,000 over five years and cost $226,000 to $469,000 to operate. Breaking even would depend on how much was charged for the initial sign-up and monthly or yearly costs to businesses.

Ponton gave council a third possibility, a hybrid model.

"I'd call it a retail 'light' model, to do the wholesale model plus a little bit of retail selectively, and really as a way to showcase what the art of the possible is without making the full investment in the full operational staff to deliver a full operational model and encouraging others to come in and participate in that modelling and perhaps let the Town take a long term fall back position in the wholesale model," Ponton says.

The federal government has been promoting the adoption of broadband services to municipalities like High River, with programs to help in the cost.

Administration will do more research on the issue and get direction from council in the future as to which option to pursue.

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