WYOMING, ON – SouthWestern Integrated Fibre Technology Inc. (SWIFT) has released a position paper that it says provides an evidence-based case for continued investment in equitable access to ultra-high-speed broadband networks.
SWIFT is a not-for-profit, collective broadband initiative that is funding the construction of an affordable, open-access, ultra-high-speed fibre-optic regional broadband network for some 3.5 million residents in Southwestern Ontario, Caledon and the Niagara Region.
Broadband: An Investment in Innovation focuses on the following recommendations:
1. Develop and implement a provincial broadband plan that is aligned with federal, regional, municipal and Indigenous partners. This plan should leverage the collective voice of the 3.5 million residents in SWIFT’s region (and voices from other funded community projects and unfunded communities) to maximize broadband infrastructure investments and create equitable, evidence-based provision of services;
2. Provide long-term, predictable funding to models like SWIFT which are overcoming Ontario’s connectivity barriers and meeting the unique needs of each community;
3. Help Ontario to realize the CRTC’s universal service objective and SWIFT to achieve its goal of "broadband for everyone" by continuing to invest in the expansion of broadband infrastructure;
4. Facilitate the deployment of communications infrastructure by introducing a Broadband Conduit Deployment Act, like that of the United States, to facilitate the faster and lower cost deployment of fibre optic infrastructure by municipalities and TSPs; and
5. Unlock the tremendous potential of (Ontario) and create a safety net for individuals who cannot currently access Internet services due to remoteness of location or financial hardships by declaring broadband internet an essential utility.
“Creating a fully integrated, fibre optic broadband network is the key to growing our communities and unlocking Ontario’s economic potential,” said SWIFT CEO Geoff Hogan, in the paper’s news release. “To ensure that all Ontarians, whether they be in rural or urban areas, have access to the services they need to participate in the digital economy we are looking to the Province of Ontario to provide long-term, predictable funding to models like SWIFT.”
