High-speed fibre internet service arrives in Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald

Yellowknife, N.W.T, February 18, 2025 - Northwestel is excited to share that fibre-to-the-home infrastructure is now operational in Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald, Alberta, providing both communities with access to high-speed, unlimited fibre internet. Northwestel constructed the fibre infrastructure and will also operate and maintain it. This fibre project was initiated by the Smith’s Landing First Nation, who approached Northwestel to partner on the project.

For the first time, residential customers in Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald now have access to unlimited Northwestel internet packages and download speeds of up to 700 Megabits per second (Mbps). In addition, businesses in both communities can benefit from speeds up to 750 Mbps.

The arrival of high-speed, unlimited internet in Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald means that residents can now subscribe to Northwestel’s TV Plus service. TV Plus offers access to a seemingly endless roster of popular shows, movies, sports, and live events. Subscribers can also access a vast catalogue of streaming apps, both while at home or out and about.

“We’re thrilled to be now serving Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald with the fastest and most reliable internet technology around: fibre optics,” Curtis Shaw, President at Northwestel, said. “The arrival of fibre in these communities is yet another example of our commitment to bridging the digital divide between remote communities in Northern Canada and the rest of the country.”

“Smith’s Landing First Nation and our community members are very excited to be part of this fibre upgrade. We look forward to the positive impacts this will bring to our members and their families. Faster and reliable internet means better access to educational resources, employment, training, and entertainment. This will help in closing the gap to some of the challenges of living in a remote Indigenous community,” Chief Thaidene Paulette of Smith’s Landing First Nation said.

“High-speed internet is not a luxury; it is a necessity. That’s why the Government of Canada is working to help bring high-speed internet to 98% of Canadian households by 2026 and 100% by 2030. In today’s digital world, communities big and small need reliable internet access, whether for accessing healthcare or growing a business. The completion of this project marks a significant connectivity milestone for the people in Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald, many of whom are Indigenous,” said The Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Northwestel held a pre-launch kick-off event to celebrate this milestone in Fort Fitzgerald on December 10. Community members there were treated to a feast of soup and bannock, and one lucky attendee went home with a brand new 65-inch TV courtesy of Northwestel.

Community members are encouraged to reach out with any questions about our internet service offerings and schedule their installation today. For more information or to book an installation, contact our Customer Care team at 1-888-423-2333 or visit nwtel.ca.

Quick facts:

Northwestel is proud to currently serve 97 communities across Northern Canada.
The construction of fibre infrastructure in Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald took place from September 9, 2024, to December 8, 2024. Northwestel designed and installed the fibre infrastructure.
This project was funded by the Government of Canada’s Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) and First Nation Infrastructure Fund (FNIF), as well as by the Government of Alberta, Smith’s Landing First Nation, and Northwestel.
Before the arrival of fibre in Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald, both communities got their internet service via DSL, which limited download speeds to a maximum of 5 Mbps.
The arrival of fibre in Smith’s Landing and Fort Fitzgerald comes hot on the heels of Northwestel announcing the launch of the Canada North Fibre Loop, which provides our network with unprecedented resiliency.

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About Northwestel

Northwestel is the largest telecommunications provider in Canada’s North, serving 97 communities across the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, British Columbia and Alberta. Beginning in 2020, Northwestel’s Every Community project significantly improved broadband services for northern residents, governments, and businesses using the latest fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite technologies. Now, over 95% of homes in Yukon and NWT have access to high-speed, unlimited fibre-powered internet, either fibre to the home or fibre to the neighbourhood. Northwestel is proud to provide service on the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples across Canada’s North. In 2024, Sixty North Unity, a consortium of Indigenous organizations, announced its plans to purchase Northwestel and make it a wholly owned Indigenous company, which will make it the largest Indigenous-owned telecommunications in the world.

Contact
Northwestel Media Relations
Media@nwtel.ca
(867) 455-4209