About 9,160 households and businesses will see $33.2 million in broadband internet upgrades in Grey Bruce.
Nearly 4,000 households is set to see $16.9 million dollars in broadband internet upgrades in Grey County and 5,200 Bruce County customers will see about $16.3 million in upgrades.
SWIFT (Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology) made the announcement Tuesday (Nov19) about the funding for improvements in broadband internet services in Meaford, West Grey, Chatsworth, Georgian Bluffs and Southgate in Grey and Arran-Elderslie, Brockton, Northern Bruce Peninsula, South Bruce, Huron-Kinloss, South Bruce Peninsula and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation in Bruce County.
The SWIFT program was organized by the Western Ontario Warden’s Caucus and it subsidizes the construction of open-access high-speed networks.
The newly announced projects will service over 230 kilometres of underserved roads in Grey County which will service 3,960 households in Grey County.
The funding for Grey County breaks down to $10.6 million in federal and provincial funding and $6.2 million from internet service providers.
SWIFT has signed an agreement with EH!tel Networks to support two hybrid project which will use a combination of both fibre and wireless technologies along 110 kilometres in West Grey and Southgate which will service 1,904 homes by mid 2021.
Meanwhile, Xplornet Communications Inc. has been awarded funding to service 101 kilometres of underserved roadway with 1,858 homes and businesses benefiting from it in Meaford, West Grey, Chatsworth and Georgian Bluffs.
Service is expected to be available by mid-2022.
Wightman Telecom is to receive funding to deploy fibre-optic cabling along 15 kilometres of underserviced roads in West Grey for 134 households and businesses by mid-2022.
GBTEL will receive funding to deploy fibre-optic cabling along 3.9 kilometres of underserviced roads in Meaford for 64 households and businesses by late-2022.
Grey County Warden Paul McQueen says in a statement, “Now more than ever, access to high speed internet is essential as Grey County residents are spending more time online working, learning and doing business,” adding, “Access to reliable high-speed internet is vital to our future. It’s encouraging to know SWIFT projects will soon be underway, expanding this important infrastructure in Grey County.”
In Bruce County, more than 5,200 households and businesses are expected to see better intenet.
$9.1 million will go to Arran-Elderslie, Brockton, Northern Bruce Peninsula, South Bruce, Huron-Kinloss, and South Bruce Peninsula and the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation.
With $7.2 million from internet service providers, the region will receive a total of $16.3 million in broadband upgrades.
The first wave of construction is expected to begin in Bruce County by early 2021.
Xplornet Communications was awarded $6.4 million to bring high-speed internet to 3,247 customers in Northern Bruce Peninsula and the Town of South Bruce Peninsula. Service is set to be available there by mid-2022.
GBTEL was awarded $1.3 million to bring high-speed internet service to 313 households and businesses
in the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation community. Service will be available by late-2022.
GBTEL was also awarded $1.5 million to bring high-speed service to more than 252 households in the
municipality of South Bruce. Service will be available by late-2022.
EH!tel Networks was awarded $4.7 million to expand broadband access and provide high-speed
connectivity to more than 1,054 residents in Arran-Elderslie, Brockton, and South Bruce.
Service will be available by late-2021.
Wightman Telecom was awarded $1.1 million to bring high-speed connectivity to 226 households and
businesses in the municipality of South Bruce. Service will be available by early-2022.
HuronTel was awarded $1.3 million to bring high-speed connectivity to 128 customers in South Bruce and Huron-Kinloss. Service will be available by early-2022.
Tuesday’s announcements are part of SWIFT’s $209 million broadband expansion plan that aims to bring better broadband access to approximately 50,000 underserved homes and businesses across Southwestern Ontario.
The project was approved for funding up to $127.4 million under the New Building Canada Fund – Small Communities Fund (NBCF-SCF), a joint federal and provincial infrastructure funding program. It leverages additional funding from municipal partners and private sector investors to bring the total project investment to $209 million to improve access to broadband services across the region.
