PETERBOROUGH COUNTY, Ont. — The Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) issued Monday its first request for proposal to build new cellular infrastructure in the rural region of the province, as part of a $213-million public-private partnership first pitched to the federal and provincial governments by EORN back in May 2017.
The competitive bidding process will identify telecom partners who offer both the expertise and best value for expanded cell coverage in the region, says the news release. The federal and provincial governments have already committed $71 million each to improve both the reach and quality of mobile broadband services in Eastern Ontario.
The EORN initiative applies to an area that includes 13 members of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (11 regional county municipalities and two single-tier municipalities), and nine separated municipalities. All are members of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus and most municipalities within the Eastern Ontario Mayors’ Caucus are contributing to the $10-million municipal share of funding. Mobile carriers are expected to provide the balance of the funding, says the release.
“EORN has been planning this work for several years and we are pleased to finally launch the bidding process — an important first step in building the project. We are looking to build on the investment we’ve already made in broadband infrastructure with partners who will deliver value and quality in closing the gap in mobile services,” said EORN chair J. Murray Jones, in the news release.
For more information about the RFP process for EORN’s Eastern Ontario Cell Gap Project and to download related documents, please visit here. The bid closing date is Friday, August 14, 2020 at 2 p.m. ET.
