A huge push for Internet retrofits from Nairn Centre to Garden River and on St. Joseph and Manitoulin islands has received major support from both the Ontario and federal governments.
The brainchild of Huron Shores Mayor Georges Bilodeau, he says he is thrilled that the Huron Shore and Manitoulin Island Community Owned Fibre Infrastructure Project has received approval for $170-million dollars in funding to either add or improve Internet access for some 39,000 households.
He says the project includes several partners spread throughout the Algoma and Manitoulin districts with the work starting in 2022 and a completion date of 2025.
The funding comes from Ontario’s Improving Connectivity for Ontario program as well as the Government of Canada’s Universal Broadband Fund.
Bilodeau adds with this funding, their group now partners with ROCK Networks to build a broadband network that will bring high-speed internet to all residents and businesses between Nairn Centre and Garden River First Nation, including the City of Elliot Lake and St Joseph and Manitoulin Islands. Once the network is constructed, consumers can buy internet services from internet service providers (ISPs) using their network, he adds. ISPs will pay a wholesale or floor rate to the network for the internet access they sell, allowing for many ISPs to offer assorted services to consumers.