Residents in Altona will see some construction activity starting this spring as Valley Fiber begins the work of installing the infrastructure for its high-speed internet services.

Company officials were originally hoping to break ground in 2018 on the much-anticipated project, but that never materialized.

A town official expects residents will see Valley Fiber crews in the community in the coming months.

"Preliminary plans have been drawn up and they need to be reviewed by town staff and Valley Fiber staff to make sure there are no issues in certain areas where there might be some underground infrastructure that might be causing problems," said Altona CAO Dan Gagne.

Once all those details have sorted out and ground has finally thawed, the real work of installing all the cable and other infrastructure can begin.

Gagne points out the network buildout won't necessarily start with the town's buildings and facilities.

"I'm not sure the town's infrastructure is going to be the priority. They will build out the infrastructure for the entire network and try to get as much of that done as possible first. I don't know what the plan is yet in terms of the various phases go. I know different areas of the town will be focused on first and whether the town's infrastructure is part of the initial phase is unclear right now. It will all depend on Valley Fiber's plan, which we have yet to review."

Gagne thinks the bulk of the project will likely be completed this year and finished up in 2020.