Nicola Valley residents and travellers on the Coquihalla Highway now have increased access to wireless Internet and cellular service thanks to a new TELUS wireless site south of Merritt.

The new site, which was completed and turned on the week prior to Christmas, will provide enhanced 4G wireless voice and high speed Internet service along 25 kilometres of the Coquihalla Highway and the surrounding areas between Merritt and Shovelnose.

“At TELUS, we know how important wireless services are, and continue to make significant investments in our networks to bring them to our customers,” said Bert Braybrook, director of Customer Solutions Delivery, in a press release. “The benefits of wireless service are enormous, whether you are looking at economic development or public safety.”

Braybrook said the company’s $1 million investment in the new site gives motorists and area residents and businesses the convenience of making wireless calls from wherever they are, as well as access to 911, and broadband service where it may not be possible to build wired Internet access.

The telecommunications company is one of the Internet services providers working with the Government of British Columbia to increase connectivity and Internet access throughout the province.

In a government press release issued the same week, Jason Macnaughton, communications manager for the Ministry of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government, reports that 93 per cent of B.C. residents have access to high-speed Internet, making B.C. one of the most connected jurisdictions in the world.

To better this percentage, the province is currently working to increase the level of Internet and cellular access throughout B.C. with a goal to have every community connected with high-speed Internet in the next ten years.

MacNaughton said that increasing access to the Internet removes significant barriers for rural and remote communities and creates new business opportunities.

With increased access, businesses can use online banking to manage investments and hold conferences, community members can stay intact with friends and family through social media, and students can access educational programs, he said.

“The work we’re doing to connect B.C. means children, citizens and businesses will have better access to information and opportunities,” said Minister of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government Margaret MacDiarmid. “This means real and significant benefits to rural communities.”

As part of the ten-year strategic plan, in a contract signed in July 2011 TELUS agreed to provide certain rural benefits at no additional charge to tax payers including providing over 1,100 kilometres of new cellular coverage along previously unconnected highway segments to improve the public safety.

The Government of British Columbia is also working to connect First Nations communities to the Internet through a program called Pathways to Technology. To date, 1257 out of 203 communities have Internet access.