High-speed Internet has finally come to the 900 people living in a First Nation community near Mount Currie, 120 km north of Vancouver.

The Lil’wat Nation now becomes the 177th First Nation community, out of a total of 203 in B.C., with Internet access.

“Broadband connectivity has been a community priority for years and will support us in our educational, social, cultural and economic development initiatives moving forward,” Chief Lucinda Phillips said.

“It means so much to our community. It will bring so many opportunities, whether education, greater access to health care or improving communication.”

The launch Wednesday of the high-speed broadband connection will be a “huge benefit” as well as provide a more reliable and more cost-effective network, said Kerry Mehaffey, director of the Lil’wat Nation Economic Development and Lil’wat Business.

“This will help our entrepreneur population to make digital marketing possible and provide easier access to updating websites,” Mehaffey said.

Another benefit is that residents making an emergency call will no longer have their 911 calls diverted to Pemberton, 18 km away, then rerouted to the local fire hall. With the upgrade to Internet, residents can call local emergency service officials directly, Mehaffey said.

Until now, Lil’wat has been using an expensive satellite dial-up to connect with the online world.

“It’s been a headache. We had 20 staff (in the First Nations office) sharing one computer with one satellite. It was dependent on the weather and had a high monthly cost,” Phillips said.

The Assembly of First Nations said half of First Nation households in Canada do not have Internet access at all.

Phillips, who spent years advocating for her community to get federal and provincial funding to cover the cost, said she wants to encourage those First Nation communities without broadband access to also find a way to get it.

The target is to have all 2003 First Nation communities in B.C. with Internet within four years, said Ruth Williams, the CEO of the All Nations Trust Company. The aboriginal-owned trust company oversees the $48.8 million fund called The Pathways to Technology Project, which is being used to help B.C. first nations get access to the Internet.

The funding breakdown for the project is $23.3 million from the province, $17.5 million from Health Canada and $8 million from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

But Williams said they may need more capital to complete the goal, considering the last communities to get Internet will cost the most because of their remoteness and difficult terrain.

kpemberton@vancouversun.com