The federal and Ontario governments on Monday announced more than $97 million in combined funding for ROCK Networks, a PomeGran Inc. subsidiary, to build new fibre infrastructure that will bring high-speed internet access to more than 60 communities along the north shore of Lake Huron between Sudbury, Huron Shores and Sault Ste. Marie, and on Manitoulin Island.
The high-speed internet project will serve 18,663 households, including 2,545 indigenous homes, according to a government backgrounder, which lists the 62 communities that will benefit.
The funding, which comes from the federal government’s Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) and Ontario’s Improving Connectivity for Ontario (ICON) program, is part of an existing $1.2 billion partnership between Ontario and Canada, announced in July 2021.
A separate press release from PomeGran says the rural fibre broadband provider is investing an additional $75 million through financing partnerships with the Canada Infrastructure Bank and Stonebridge Financial Corporation to complete the project.
PomeGran will own and operate the network when it’s finished, but its open access framework will enable other internet service providers to offer services to consumers at competitive prices, the company’s press release says.
“PomeGran is excited to receive this investment, a testament to our shared commitment with the Governments of Canada and Ontario to bring high-speed Internet to rural and Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario,” Joe Hickey, president of PomeGran, said in the release. “This strategic investment signifies a crucial step towards achieving Canada’s nationwide connectivity targets, and with our commitment to an open access network, it will help foster competition in the market, making high-speed Internet more affordable in the region.”
