$4.3-million Grey County broadband project now underway
SIMCOE and GREY COUNTY, Ont. — In two separate announcements last week, Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) announced the awarding of funding to support $41.1 million in broadband upgrades for Simcoe County and $4.3 million in upgrades for Grey County, both located in southwestern Ontario.
In Simcoe County, six fibre-to-the-home projects (three by Bell, and one each by Vianet, Cogeco and Rogers) will expand broadband services to 12,700 households and businesses. SWIFT has awarded more than $18.6 million in federal and provincial funding to service 500 kilometres of underserved roadway to connect more than 60 communities to much better Internet. Of the $41.1 million in broadband upgrades in Simcoe, $22.5 million comes from from the Internet service providers.
“Today’s announcement is a major achievement for the program, our partners and the residents of Simcoe County, as the newly awarded projects surpassed all of our expected outcomes, including more fibre installed, far more premises passed and overall delivering a much larger broadband investment in the County than originally anticipated,” said David Mayberry, SWIFT board chair, in the organization’s press release.
“Service providers have demonstrated a strong interest in the program and in doing so, SWIFT has been able to leverage available funding to drive greater connectivity across our region,” added Barry Field, executive director of SWIFT. “The outcomes from our Simcoe County procurement far exceeded expectations, with the total County project value increasing by 47%, resulting in an additional $13 million in broadband upgrades.”
The details for the individual Simcoe County projects are as follows:
- Bell Canada has been awarded funding to support three FTTH projects. The newly awarded projects will collectively service 389 kilometres of underserved roadway to bring high-speed Internet to 10,604 homes and businesses throughout the Townships of Clearview, Adjala-Tosorontio, Essa, Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Tiny, Tay, Severn, Ramara and within the Towns of Midland, Penetanguishene and Innisfil. The projects represent a collective total investment of approximately $32 million and will be completed with service available by mid-2022.
- SWIFT has signed an agreement with Vianet to deploy fibre cabling along more than 73 kilometres of underserved roadway throughout the Towns of New Tecumseth and Bradford West Gwillimbury and within the Township of Adjala-Tosorontio to deliver high-speed Internet to 1,207 businesses and homes. Construction of the $5.8 million FTTH solution is expected to be completed with service available in early 2022.
- Cogeco Communications will receive funding to deploy fibre-optic cabling along 19 kilometres of underserviced roads within the Township of Severn. The $1.5 million FTTH network will deliver high-speed connectivity to 467 households and businesses by late 2022.
- Rogers Communications was awarded a contract to deploy fibre-optic cabling along 15 kilometres of underserviced roads in the Township of Clearview. The $1.8 million FTTH solution will deliver high-speed connectivity to 422 households and businesses by early 2022.
In a separate press release, SWIFT announced construction is now underway to bring faster, more reliable high-speed broadband services to the Township of Southgate and within the Municipality of West Grey.
Recent recipient of SWIFT funding, EH!tel Networks is moving forward with the construction and implementation of its high-speed network to bring improved broadband to more than 1,000 households and businesses within the communities of Holstein, Varney, Orchardville, Yeovil, Dromore, Tartan and Thistle.
“This project is of vital importance to us. Since Covid, our existing wireless networks are strained. Initiating fibre construction will provide prompt capacity relief and give us a jump start for 2021,” said Antonius Peeters, CEO and president of EH!tel Networks.
For the Grey County project, SWIFT awarded $2.7 million in federal and provincial funding to support the $4.3-million joint venture which will use a combination of fibre and wireless technologies to expand broadband access within the township and throughout the municipality. The new high-speed project is expected to be completed with services available by mid-2021.
“EH!tel Networks was able to fast-track this project and move up their construction date in an effort to quickly begin to address connectivity challenges within the Grey County communities,” said Fields, in the release.
