Broadband Innovations, Part 2: Fiber Optics Reaches the Tipi

Nick Beaudry works as an embroidery technician at Legend Logos and lives on the reserve south of Creston, British Columbia. He thinks that having access to high-speed broadband has had an enormous impact on business.

"As long as you've got an avenue you can jump on, people will find you," Beaudry says.

Despite its remote location, the Ktunaxa reserve in Creston enjoys Internet speeds of up to 100 megabits per second. This speed comes in handy for sending large files (such as digitized embroidery images) back and forth with customers across the continent.

"It's saved us a ton of money and also enables us to outsource our more complicated embroideries," says Beaudry.

The fiber optics system also allows Beaudry to stay tuned with the rest of the world and to keep in contact with family members who no longer live on the reserve. The morning that this photograph was taken, Beaudry used his connection to look at paintings made by his father in Montana.

[Photo: Kajsa Linnarsson]