High Speed Fiber Internet - Project Aurora

Project Aurora is underway across Saddle Hills County

Construction crews are actively building fiber infrastructure across Silver Valley, Bonanza, Gordondale, Whitburn, and Blueberry Mountain as part of Project Aurora — bringing high-speed, no-cost hookup internet to nearly 600 homes and businesses in the region.

Canadian Fiber Optics is in the process of building roughly 550 km of infrastructure across the county. That's more than the length of the highway from Spirit River to Edmonton.

Drilling and plowing crews are actively working multiple fronts at once, with steady progress on both the backbone and local distribution network.

Residents in active construction zones can expect to see crews and equipment in their area over the coming weeks.

Residents' patience is appreciated as crews work through the construction phase to get far enough along to provide a timeframe for when service will be available.

If you're interested in service, email your name and address to melissa@canadianfiberoptics.ca, and you'll be among the first to know when sign-ups begin.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Northern Lights Fiber?

Canadian Fiber Optics Corp (CFOC) is the parent operating company that designs, builds, and maintains the fiber networks. Northern Lights Fiber is CFOC's customer-facing brand — the name you'll see on residential and small-business services. Both companies share the same team, technology, and infrastructure, which is why emails come from the canadianfiberoptics.ca

Where can I get more information about service with Northern Lights Fiber?

Call 1-888-236-2947

Visit northernlightsfiber.ca to learn more about Northern Lights Fiber and their services.

What is the 'Digital Divide'?

The 'Digital Divide' is the difference between the connectivity that urban centres and their residents enjoy, compared to the lack of connectivity and quality internet that is seen in rural areas. Northern Lights Fiber are aiming to close this gap permanently. They are going far beyond the 50 mbps/10 mbps speeds as the standard is set today, and bringing residents 10,000 mbps enabled infrastructure for their home and business. To do this they are building brand new networks/infrastructure for your area and connecting your home to world class fiber optics. They will be building this in the ground, past your home or business.

Why is fiber internet and Wi-Fi so much better than satellite, wireless or copper?

How does fiber compare to satellite, wireless, or copper?

Each technology has different strengths and limitations:

• Fiber-optic cable carries data as pulses of light through glass strands. It offers symmetrical upload and download speeds, isn't affected by weather, and has plenty of capacity to share among the homes connected to it.
• Satellite internet sends signals to and from orbit. It can reach almost anywhere, but the long signal path adds delay (latency), and weather and atmospheric conditions can affect performance.
• Fixed wireless sends signals through the air between towers and homes. It's faster to deploy than fiber, but signal strength depends on line-of-sight, distance, and how many neighbours are sharing the same tower.
• Copper-based services (DSL, cable) use older wiring originally designed for phone or TV.

They generally offer much slower upload speeds than download, and performance drops
the farther you are from the provider's equipment.

Fiber's main advantage is consistency: the speed you sign up for is the speed you can expect to see, day after day. Our home WiFi equipment uses the WiFi 6 standard and supports up to 250 connected devices on a single router.

How can I find out about construction progress?

Updates will be posted at Saddlehills.ab.ca/News

What are these flags and paint marks on the the ground?

These are locates — markers placed by utility locators to identify buried infrastructure such as gas, electrical, water, and sewer lines. They tell our crews where it is safe to dig and where it is not. Locates are critical for the safety of our crews and the protection of your property, so please leave them in place.

In Alberta, locates are typically valid for 30 to 60 days. They will be removed, or will fade naturally, once our work in the area is complete.

What products is Northern Lights Fiber using to connect my home? Are they made for our environment?

Northern Lights Fiber are proud to source Albertan, Canadian, and North American products whenever possible. Their products are engineered and specified for networking in northern Canadian climates, to ensure longevity and reliability expectations are met.

How will Northern Lights Fiber build the network in my community?

Canadian Fiber Optics uses a mix of methods and equipment depending on the location: hydrovac trucks, directional drills, vibratory plows, and some hand digging. The goal is to bury fiber safely while disturbing the surface as little as possible.

What about post-construction restoration?

Affected areas are returned to as close to their original state as possible:

Public easements that are plowed are back tracked and naturally "fill in". Any holes or pits are backfilled with topsoil and seeded where needed.
Holes in driveways or hard surfaces are patched with the appropriate material (sand, dirt, concrete, or asphalt) to match the original surface.
Where construction is approved on private property, topsoil and seed are used for remediation. Residents are asked to water the area for about two weeks to help the grass establish, as crews will not return to water the seeded area.

Is the box or pedestal on the utility easement or right-of-way?

Yes. Canadian Fiber Optics only places public-serving infrastructure (boxes, pedestals) within the public right-of-way.

The equipment that connects an individual property — called a Network Interface Device (NID) — is installed separately once service is ordered, through either the residential sign-up or business onboarding process.

How do I sign up for services?

Construction is still underway, and crews are working to get far enough along to provide a timeframe for when residents can be connected.

Residents interested in service can email their name and address to melissa@canadianfiberoptics.ca and will be among the first to know when sign-ups officially open.