Canada is the world’s second largest country by area and, thus, has many sparsely populated regions between the towns and cities that make up provinces from the Northwest Territory to Newfoundland and Labrador.

In the case of Rogers, it has taken a cue from the federal government’s just-announced spending boon on broadband accessibility and is committing $100 million over 5 years to plastering 1,000 kilometers of highway with their first-ever cellular service. The network would also act as an agnostic carrier for emergency service calls on these stretches.

These roads include Route 245 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and Highway 5a in Kamloops, British Columbia. Both are regional centers in fairly rural areas that link to smaller towns through vast motorways.

No word on what kind of spectrum will be used to deploy to these areas.

Rural connectivity has been a major concern in the US as well, though there have been competitive and investment challenges blocking major progress.