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If he were a betting man, the minister in charge of Alberta’s rural broadband network strategy reckons you’ll see a plan in the fall.

MLA Brian Malkinson was handed the Service Alberta file in a recent cabinet shuffle by Premier Rachel Notley.

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The broadband strategy is one of her major expectations for the new minister, and Malkinson told Postmedia he wants to see high-speed internet for rural Alberta “sooner, rather than later.”

But the key is developing a plan that will continue to be relevant even as internet usage soars.

“Rural broadband isn’t a luxury,” he said in a recent interview.

Developing a plan

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) recently declared that well-developed broadband infrastructure is essential for Canadians to participate in the digital economy.

By the end of 2021, it expects 90 per cent of Canadian homes and businesses to have access to broadband speeds of at least 50 MBps for downloads and 10 MBps for uploads.