TIMMINS, ON – Fourteen communities in northeastern Ontario can now access free Internet in public facilities and venues thanks to the Wireless Hotspots Project.
Spearheaded by the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, the local Community Future Development Corporations, NorthernTel and NEOnet, the $220,000 investment has resulted in the installation of over 65 free wireless Internet access points.
For a period of two years NorthernTel, a division of Bell Aliant, has pledged to assume the costs associated with the installation, maintenance, network hosting, monitoring, and necessary bandwidth. The participating communities will then work with NEOnet, NorthernTel, and NOHFC to determine the sustainability of the access points, potentially assuming the related operational costs after the initial two years.
"At NorthernTel we understand the increasing demand for access to broadband Internet anywhere, anytime," said Mary-Ann Bell, SVP of Bell Aliant for Ontario and Quebec, in the announcement. "By investing in the creation of numerous hotspots across our region we are providing people on the move with access to a high-speed connection while travelling for business and leisure."
Participating communities include Mattice-Val Côté, Moonbeam, Larder Lake, Temiskaming Shores, Kirkland Lake, McGarry, Cobalt, Timmins, Kapuskasing, Hearst, Englehart, Iroquois Falls, Smooth Rock Falls and Black River-Matheson.
