With shovels in the ground and a spool of thick orange cable being wheeled along the Municipality of Brighton’s main street, work towards giving Northumberland County residents the option to connect to high-speed internet is moving ahead.
The current construction project brings to Northumberland County a new broadband network. Work to install the fibre optic cable underground began in Brighton’s downtown the week of July 21.
“We expect this broadband rollout, which will connect 11,000 homes and businesses, will be completed by the end of this year,” Northumberland County Warden and Municipality of Brighton Mayor Brian Ostrander recently told kawarthaNOW.
Axle Telecom — part of a family of Canadian-owned telecommunications companies owned by Windsor Private Capital’s WPC Infrastructure Fund that also includes EH!tel Networks, Bruce Telecom, and GBTel — is constructing the network.
“As the fibre is installed, each neighbourhood will be contacted by Axle Telecom to find out if they want to sign up for fibre-to-the-home connections,” Ostrander said.
Earlier this month, the Municipality of Port Hope said the broadband project represents a major improvement for some Port Hope residents. Of the 11,000 homes and businesses eligible to gain access to high-speed internet, there are about 1,000 locations in Port Hope.
“Community response to the project has been overwhelmingly positive,” a media release from the municipality noted.
“Consent rates from Port Hope residents agreeing to have their home or business connected to access the network have far exceeded expectations, with more than 65 per cent of qualifying addresses in Port Hope already opting in — well above the typical 20 per cent seen at this stage in similar projects.”
“Reliable internet access is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity,” Municipality of Port Hope Mayor Olena Hankivsky said.
“We are committed to ensuring that every Port Hope home and business has the tools needed to thrive in an increasingly connected world. We also appreciate the federal and provincial commitments to see every home provided access to broadband and stand by this important goal.”
The project partners have acknowledged that approximately 390 locations in Port Hope will not be connected in this initial rollout. They said planning is already underway for a second phase of this initiative, with Northumberland County “actively engaged in discussions with the province to expand connectivity to additional households in Port Hope and across Northumberland.”
Historically, Northumberland’s varied landscape has been noted as making access to reliable high-speed internet a challenge.
But now with agreements in place between Northumberland County, the federal and provincial governments, and Windsor Private Capital, the project is anticipated to “close the digital divide in our community,” the release stated.
The county said crews are steadily installing fibre optic lines and completing the first property connections.
Originally announced in 2022 with a $26.6 million investment from the province and an $18.4 million from the federal government through the Universal Broadband Fund, the provincial contribution has since increased to $45.8 million, bringing the combined federal and provincial contribution to $64.2 million.
Northumberland County has also committed $700,000 towards the initiative.
