MIDDLESEX COUNTY, ON – Non-profit rural broadband funding organization Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) announced Tuesday the completion of two high-speed broadband projects in Middlesex County, Ont., which are now providing 665 previously underserved homes and businesses with access to high-speed internet service.
The residences and businesses benefiting from these newly constructed broadband networks are located throughout the municipalities of Southwest Middlesex, Middlesex Centre and the Township of Strathroy-Caradoc. Specific communities include Christina, Longwood, Mayfair, Middlemiss, Muncey, and rural areas near Lobo and Melrose.
“The successful completion of these two high-speed internet projects in Middlesex County is a testament to SWIFT’s continued commitment to working together with our community partners and local service providers to expand broadband connectivity across Southwestern Ontario’s rural and underserved communities,” SWIFT’s executive director, Barry Field, said in a press release.
According to an Ontario government press release last Friday, the provincial and federal governments are providing more than $2.8 million in combined funding via SWIFT to support the construction of these broadband projects.
Service provider EH!tel Networks has completed construction of a 105-kilometre high-speed network, using a combination of fibre and wireless technologies, which is now providing high-speed internet access to 597 rural homes and businesses located between the communities of Glencoe, Mount Brydges, Southwold and Middlemiss, SWIFT’s release says.
EH!tel Networks is receiving almost $2.8 million in government funding toward the $5.5 million cost of the project, according to SWIFT’s approved projects webpage. The project contract was awarded to EH!tel in May 2021.
Independent ISP Execulink Telecom has finished construction on a six-kilometre fibre-to-the-home network to provide 68 homes and businesses located outside the rural communities of Lobo and Melrose with access to high-speed internet. The contract for this project was awarded to Execulink in March 2021.
Execulink is receiving approximately $131,000 in government funding toward the construction cost of the project, valued at $193,000, according to SWIFT.
The governments of Canada and Ontario and the private sector have invested more than $255 million combined to bring high-speed internet access to more than 63,000 homes and businesses in Southwestern Ontario through SWIFT by the end of 2023, the provincial government’s press release says.
The Ontario government has set a goal of having high-speed internet connectivity available throughout the province by the end of 2025.
