CHATHAM, Ont. – TekSavvy and the municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario announced today a joint effort to build a high-speed, open access fibre broadband network in the Southwestern Ontario region. The municipality will invest $6.5 million to facilitate the open-access fibre backbone that will connect communities in Chatham-Kent.
As Canada’s largest independent ISP, TekSavvy plans to connect more than 38,000 residences and businesses in the region, starting in Chatham with plans to expand to Blenheim, Ridgetown, Tilbury, and Wallaceburg, investing up to $26 million over 18 months in the development of its fibre network.
TekSavvy has already begun construction of its fibre network in Chatham, serving its first fibre-to-the-premise customers earlier this year, the company said.
Asked what inspired them to move ahead with the investment, TekSavvy CEO Marc Gaudrault says Chatham has served as the company’s home base for the last two decades. “From a business standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. We’ve been in Chatham for the last 20 years,” Gaudrault says. “But also, I’m from Chatham myself and think about my kids growing up in this community, so it’s also a personal thing as well, because this is where the world is going. Helping attract residents and businesses to the area with them knowing they have access to the fastest internet on-ramp is critical and vital to help build a strong, sustainable community.”
While TekSavvy acts as a reseller of high speed internet services in many areas across the country (click here for a recent Cartt.ca feature), Gaudrault says the company is going it alone with this fibre investment, and that it hopes to find synergistic opportunities with other service providers as the rollout continues. “We’ve had this project in the works for the last 18 months. It’s not tied to anything that other companies may be doing in the region. Right now, we’ve got fibre running to approximately 100 businesses and 100 homes and will have another 1,100 connected over the next few months,” Gaudrault says.
"We are open to conversation with other service providers when it comes to sharing networks." Marc Gaudrault, TekSavvy
“Our business case dictates where the service will go first, but we also acknowledge areas outside of the region that are underserviced. We’re doing what we can to address those areas. We are open to conversation with other service providers when it comes to sharing networks, as when the rates for connections between two communities are too high, they only serve as a barrier for companies to go into those areas,” he explained.
“The Chatham-Kent region is laid out over a relatively expansive area (2,458 square kms), which has led to scattered service and less fibre investment as a result. We don’t want to contribute to furthering that problem. Once we get underway, we fully expect other companies to come along and help bring this technology to Chatham-Kent and beyond. We will absolutely be looking to address those underserviced areas through partnerships with others or finding ways to connect customers.”
Gaudrault credits the CRTC’s wholesale high speed access decision of October 2016 as not only having helped level the playing field for re-sellers like TekSavvy, he also credits the ground-breaking decision as having helped put the company in a position where it can make investments similar to what it’s doing in Chatham-Kent.
“When the CRTC rendered its decision, we not only adjusted our rates downward, it put us in a better position to make this kind of investment, where we can pinpoint one specific area for expansion, which was always the case in the past.”
Gaudrault anticipates TekSavvy’s fibre rollout will be completed over the next 18 months and says the company will be exploring ways it can bring value to the Chatham-Kent community, including the installation of internet hotspots.
Earlier this year, Bell also announced plans to expand fibre service to the exact same areas. Is there room for two fibre networks in the community? Hard to say but it’s excellent to see more local broadband competition.
