Work underway on three projects in Middlesex County
LAMBTON and MIDDLESEX COUNTIES, Ont. — Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) and the government of Ontario announced last Friday 1,300 homes and businesses in Lambton County now have access to high-speed Internet service and 354 in Middlesex County will have high-speed connectivity in the coming months.
In Lambton County, Execulink Telecom has completed construction of two high-speed fibre projects, bringing greater connectivity to the municipalities of Plympton-Wyoming and Lambton Shores, says a SWIFT press release.
For the first project, benefiting the communities of Ravenswood, Gustin Grove, Cedar Point, Glendale Beach, Hillsborough Beach and Highland Glen, the governments of Ontario and Canada each provided more than $741,000 through SWIFT to help connect over 1,000 homes and businesses to high-speed Internet, according to an Ontario government release.
The two levels of government each committed $575,000 to support the second project, which is providing high-speed Internet access to more than 290 homes and businesses in Thedford, Springvale and Jura, the government release says.
SWIFT awarded the contracts for these two Lambton County projects to Execulink Telecom in January 2020.
In Middlesex County, construction has started on three high-speed fibre projects that will expand broadband service throughout the municipalities of Middlesex Centre, Adelaide-Metcalfe and Strathroy-Caradoc, a separate SWIFT release says.
Execulink Telecom broke ground on the first of these projects earlier this year, which will bring high-speed Internet connectivity to 174 households and businesses in the communities of Kerwood, Napperton and Strathroy. The Ontario and Canadian governments have each committed more than $310,000 in SWIFT funding to this project, which is expected to be completed in early fall 2022, according to SWIFT’s approved projects webpage.
Execulink Telecom has also started construction on a fibre network to provide 66 rural homes and businesses in Lobo and Melrose with access to high-speed Internet. This project is expected to be completed with service fully available by May 2023, according to SWIFT’s release. The two governments are each providing more than $65,000 in funding to support this project.
Quadro Communications has started work on the third project in Middlesex County, which will provide high-speed Internet access to 114 homes and businesses in the community of Ballymote. This project, expected to be completed by December 2022, received more than $270,000 in combined government funding through SWIFT, according to SWIFT’s approved projects webpage.
The contracts for these projects in Middlesex County were originally awarded in March 2021.
All of the announcements are part of SWIFT’s $268-million regional broadband expansion plan to bring high-speed Internet service to more than 63,000 homes and businesses throughout Southwestern Ontario.
