The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT), Canada, has announced the signature of a contract with Northern Lights General Partnership (Northern Lights) to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link (MVFL) project.

Northern Lights is a consortium comprised of Ledcor Developments Ltd., including Ledcor Technical Services, and Northwestel. The team had got the award of the project in August 2014.

The contract calls for construction of the fibre link, over 1,400 kilometres long, to be completed by mid-2016. The contact also includes ongoing operation of the system for a period of 20 years.

The project involves the development of a high-speed fibre optic link connecting communities in the Mackenzie Valley and Beaufort Delta to the fibre grid. The project will be development on a design, build, finance and operation (DBFO) basis. The MVFL route extends from McGill Lake in southern NWT, 90 km south of Fort Simpson, to Tuktoyaktuk on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, a distance of approximately 1,270 km.

The system will be installed in two phases: McGill Lake to Inuvik with a planned completion of mid-2016, and an extension to Tuktoyaktuk following the completion of the all-weather highway extension from Inuvik.

"Ledcor is proud that our joint venture with Northwestel was selected by the Government of Northwest Territories to build the first fibre link between the North American Internet backbone and the Canadian Arctic Ocean. This is a historic and exciting project with many technical and logistical challenges and we look forward to commencing construction."