Eastern Ontario is set to get a boost to their cellular broadband and connectivity.
It’s thanks to a $71 million investment by the Federal government, which is on top of the $71 million that the Provincial government is pitching in to help with the Eastern Ontario Regional Network’s mobile broadband project. The Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus will also be providing $10 million for the project with more money coming in from the private sector to the cover the $200 million needed for the project.
“This is a game changer for Eastern Ontario,” MP for Hastings-Lennox and Addington Mike Bossio says. Phase one of the project will see 317 telecommunications towers installed with an additional 32 local internet access points. Bossio says once again Eastern Ontario is a leader when it comes to connectivity.
“There’s a lot of areas within the town of Bancroft that have no connectivity or very poor internet service,” Mayor of Bancroft Pual Jenkins tells My Bancroft Now. He says this “dual application” will improve cellular and broadband service and help the Town continue with the work they’re already doing.
Hastings County’s CAO Jim Pine says this funding announcement is about the future. “If we want to grow the economy, we have to be connected,” he says. “And being able to connect mobily is one of the fundamental pieces of economic growth.”
“This is going to be transformational for creating jobs,” Bossio says. With a potential 3,000 fulltime jobs on the horizon thanks to this funding, he says everyone from small businesses to banks in the region will see an improvement. “We have so many people that want to move to our rural areas, that want to work remotely in our rural areas, but they can’t because they don’t have that connectivity,” he says.
“One the things realtors get asked is about internet and cellular service,” Jenkins says. While it’s important for rural sustainability to have good cellular and broadband access, he says it’s just as important when it comes to getting people to the area. “it’s a digital age today and if you don’t have it, people are not going to stay and we’re going to have a hard time attracting more,” Jenkins says.
Bossio notes that this investment is not just important in creating jobs, but making the community safer as well. He told the story of a grandfather who was out cutting wood with his grandson who had a tree fall on him. Bossio says the grandfather wasn’t able to get an ambulance to where they were because they were working in a dead zone. “we need to ensure that all rural Canadians can live in rural Canada safely and this is going to do that,” he says.