Inverness County has been refused for funding under the federal Universal Broadband Fund.
CAO Keith MacDonald told yesterday’s regular monthly meeting of Inverness Municipal
Council that the municipality teamed up with Richmond and Victoria counties, as well as local First Nations, for their application which was submitted in January 2021.
MacDonald reported that the application was denied due to the “overwhelming” amount of submissions from across Canada. If successful, he said Cape Breton would have received three new cellular towers.
After councillors reacted to the news with disappointment, Warden Bonny MacIsaac said she hoped the municipality would be successful in future applications.
Noting that better cell service is one of the municipality’s top priorities, MacDonald had council agree to a suggestion to hold joint meetings with local MLAs involving Inverness County, the other municipalities, and First Nations before applying for funding under the provincial broadband initiative which is being administered by Develop Nova Scotia.