$71 million is being invested in the Eastern Ontario Regional Network’s project to eliminate coverage gaps in the region.
It is estimated by the provincial government that 10-percent of rural Eastern Ontario has no cell service. “If we don’t have access to high speed and cellular, quite frankly we’re no place to invest,” says Hastings-Lennox and Addington MPP Daryl Kramp.
He says this is a continuation of the work that he started in 2014 when the then-MP was apart of the $170 million broadband project that was the creation of EORN. “There were too many areas that didn’t have proper service,” he says. Kramp adds that this investment is about taking the next steps.
Kramp says that it’s unsafe to have coverage gaps, especially if there’s an emergency. The PCs expect to generate up to 3,000 jobs over the next decade thanks to this investment along with $420 million in extra revenue for rural municipalities in Eastern Ontario.
This $213 million project will see EORN work to “virtually eliminate” coverage gaps in the region. An investment from the federal government is needed to get this phase of the project going, and money from the private sector and municipal partners as well.
“It’s a great day for our region, no doubt about it,” Kramp says.