ONE NATION NETWORKS
CONNECTING FIRST NATIONS Internet projects bring jobs and opportunity
BY BOB ARMSTRONG
A t three First Nations in Manitoba and Alberta, community- owned telecommunications companies are providing internet, TV and home phone services, while creating jobs and keeping profits in the community — thanks to help from One Nation Networks. A division of Winnipeg-based WiBand Communications Corp., One Nation Networks provided turnkey services to set up the telecom companies at Ebb and Flow First Nation (just west of Lake Manitoba) and at Alberta’s Siksika and Stoney Nakoda First Nations. Jen Kennedy, president of One Nation Networks, is proud of the community- building success of the companies, which employ six technicians and three office staff in communities where new jobs are scarce. Bringing high-speed internet and unlimited long distance to Indigenous communities is crucial to their economic development. But the three companies set up by One Nation Networks do more than just that. “There are a lot of companies that are just providing an internet connection,” says Kennedy. “The difference is we actually create a self-sustaining business that the First Nation owns.” WiBand Communications Corp., established in 1999, provides commercial internet services to thousands of businesses across the four western provinces. The services offered by One Nation
Networks cover everything from preparing a business plan through to setting up communication towers and training staff, as well as providing training to other members of the community. One Nation has also helped several Indigenous communities prepare applications to the Connect to Innovate funding program — for which the federal government has announced an additional $750 million in support. The three companies currently in operation have more than 1,300 residential customers, who didn’t previously have access to home internet services. Siksikatel, serving the Siksika First Nation east of Calgary, was the first of the trio, with
and businesses is a great business opportunity, says Kennedy. But it’s much more than that. “You want to make a difference and do something meaningful,” she says. “Our projects do something meaningful in providing employment and opportunities in Indigenous communities. Community ownership of infrastructure is important, because it should be their own asset, creating jobs in their community, with the profit staying in the community.” ■ At work on a communication tower at Ebb and Flow First Nation. Photo courtesy of One Nation Networks
the project beginning in 2010. Next came Stoney Nakoda Telecom,
west of Calgary. That company has grown to have seven towers, with plans underway to expand to a nearby cottage community. First Communications Telecom in Ebb and Flow is the latest achievement, begun in 2016. As with the other telecoms, First Communications has met with an enthusiastic response from the community, reaching its two-year sign-up goal within eight months of operation. Working with First Nations to develop communication infrastructure
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