{"id":4377,"date":"2026-08-14T08:03:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T08:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lumii-marketing.canadacentral.cloudapp.azure.com\/lets-celebrate-ihr-telecoms-fiber-anniversary\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T13:21:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T13:21:28","slug":"lets-celebrate-ihr-telecoms-fiber-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/lets-celebrate-ihr-telecoms-fiber-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Celebrate IHR Telecom’s Fiber Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mont-Saint-Gr\u00e9goire, April 28, 2023 \u2013 2023 marks an important milestone in the history of IHR T\u00e9l\u00e9com. Indeed, it has already been 15 years since the nonprofit organization D\u00e9veloppement Innovations Haut-Richelieu was founded with the mission of providing high-speed Internet in rural areas not served by major telecommunications companies. Since its founding in 2008, IHR T\u00e9l\u00e9com has been awarded and completed seven fiber-optic deployment projects. Now that the latest project is nearing completion, more than 20,000 households have high-speed Internet access thanks to this organization serving the rural communities in the Haut-Richelieu and Brome-Missisquoi RCMs. <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

The Combination of Fiber Optics and Wi-Fi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In 2008, the Haut-Richelieu RCM launched Internet Haut-Richelieu (IHR) <\/em>with the mission of providing high-speed Internet in rural areas. IHR<\/strong> relies on Wi-Fi technology and has established a large-scale network, using church steeples and silos to install antennas connected to the Haut-Richelieu fiber-optic network.<\/p>\n\n

From Wi-Fi to Fiber Optics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In 2014, the Government of Canada recognized the importance of bringing high-speed Internet service to rural areas. This led to the launch of the \u201cConnected Canada\u201d <\/a>initiative, which enabled IHR<\/strong> to offer faster speeds by upgrading its Wi-Fi network to fiber optics. <\/p>\n\n

A Second Phase of Expansion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In 2017, the \u201cBrancher pour Innover\u201d<\/a> program was launched with the goal of improving access to high-speed Internet in rural areas that were still unserved. IHR<\/strong> was then awarded the contract to provide service to several thousand households in the Brome-Missisquoi RCM that lacked the minimum speed of 5 Mbps. Internet Haut-Richelieu<\/em> took this opportunity to rebrand and became IHR Telecom<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

1 virus & 4 projects<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

When COVID-19 hit the world hard, the digital divide in rural areas was brought into sharp focus for citizens who faced a glaring lack of internet speed needed for remote work, telemedicine appointments, homeschooling, and more. The minimum speed is now set at 50 Mbps, prompting governments to subsidize projects that bring this essential service to households not yet connected through the Universal Broadband Fund<\/a>\u2014under which IHR Telecom<\/strong> secured two projects\u2014as well as the Canada-Quebec High-Speed Initiative<\/a>, through which IHR Telecom <\/strong>secured one \u00c9clair II project and one \u00c9clair III project. <\/p>\n\n

The 15th anniversary of IHR Telecom comes at just the right time, as it coincides with the completion of the latest project carried out through the Canada-Quebec High-Speed Initiative<\/a>. The nonprofit organization intends to mark this milestone in its history by recognizing the many contributors who have made all of its achievements over the past 15 years possible. It will also be an opportunity to look ahead to its future mission and celebrate 15 years of quality telecommunications services together!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

\n

Quotes:<\/strong>\u201cWith fiber optics, IHR Telecom has brought the world to rural areas and, in doing so, has brought rural areas into the modern age, since economic vitality depends on access to technology. Now that our projects to provide high-speed access are nearing completion, we intend to continue our mission of being at the heart of the rural community\u2019s economic development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Pierre Lapointe, CEO of IHR Telecom, and Guy B\u00e9rub\u00e9, Chairman of the Board<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/em>\u201cYou had to believe in it back in 2008! And that\u2019s exactly what the members of the Haut-Richelieu MRC council did, firmly convinced that it was, from that point on, a service that was more than essential!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 R\u00e9al Ryan, Prefect of the Haut-Richelieu Regional County Municipality<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/strong>\u201cThe deployment of fiber-optic internet by IHR T\u00e9l\u00e9com to more than 12,000 households in Brome-Missisquoi now allows our community to stay connected effectively. Everywhere\u2014on country roads, in the forest, or in the mountains\u2014people now have access to high-speed internet. This is a spectacular achievement that opens the door to incredible opportunities. Thank you for this wonderful achievement, and congratulations to IHR Telecom on its fiber anniversary!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013 Patrick Melchior, Prefect of the Brome-Missisquoi RCM<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Highlights:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

    \n
  • IHR Telecom operates more than 1,800 km of fiber-optic cable in the Haut-Richelieu and Brome-Missisquoi RCMs;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The nonprofit organization generates more than 100 direct and indirect jobs;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • High-speed Internet was defined by the CRTC in 2019 as 50 Mbps;<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • IHR Telecom operates an FTTH network that meets the highest industry standards;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n

    The IHR Telecom Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Mont-Saint-Gr\u00e9goire, April 28, 2023 \u2013 2023 marks an important milestone in the history of IHR T\u00e9l\u00e9com. Indeed, it has already been 15 years since the nonprofit organization D\u00e9veloppement Innovations Haut-Richelieu was founded with the mission of providing high-speed Internet in rural areas not served by major telecommunications companies. Since its founding in 2008, IHR T\u00e9l\u00e9com […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases-whats-new"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4377"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4378,"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4377\/revisions\/4378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lumii-solutions.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}