PERTH COUNTY and WELLINGTON COUNTY, Ont. — The Ontario government and Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) announced today Cogeco Connexion has completed construction of a fibre-to-the-home network in Wellington County, Ont., and work is now underway on broadband projects in Perth County by Mornington Communications, Tuckersmith Communications and Wightman Telecom.
In Wellington County, a new $976,000 fibre network built by Cogeco Connexion in the community of Eden Mills is now providing 350 homes, farms and businesses with access to high-speed Internet service, according to an Ontario government press release.
A separate press release from SWIFT says high-speed Internet service is now available to 359 homes and businesses in the community of Eden Mills and the surrounding area, including parts of Wellington Road 29 and 44, Indian Trail and the Eramosa Milton Townline.
The contract for the project was awarded to Cogeco Connexion in January 2020, along with $534 million in joint federal and provincial funding through SWIFT.
At the same time, Cogeco was awarded another contract and $4.4 million in SWIFT funding for a larger broadband project to connect over 1,700 homes and businesses in 10 other communities in Wellington County. According to SWIFT’s approved projects webpage, that project is expected to be completed in July 2022.
“With the completion of construction on the newly installed high-speed fibre network in Eden Mills we are pleased to report that service is now live and available across the project’s footprint,” said Barry Field, SWIFT’s executive director, in the organization’s press release.
“Access to reliable internet connectivity is key to future-proofing our region’s economy and together with internet service providers we will continue to work towards expanding broadband service throughout Southwestern Ontario to ensure that residents are able to benefit both locally and globally from increased access to high-speed internet,” Field said.
“We are proud to be an integral part of our communities and keep them connected for work, school, social, and entertainment needs,” said Matt Wickham, vice-president and general manager, Ontario, at Cogeco Connexion.
“Thanks to our partnership with SWIFT, we laid over 17 km of fibre optic cable to bring high-speed Internet to over 300 homes and businesses in Eden Mills with download speeds of up to 1Gbps, which is comparable to what is being offered in major urban centres.”
In Perth County, construction is underway on three new infrastructure networks that are expected to bring fibre-to-the-home connectivity to 407 homes and businesses throughout the Township of Perth East and within the municipalities of North Perth and West Perth, according to a SWIFT press release.
The contracts and funding for these broadband projects were awarded in March 2021.
Mornington Communications began construction in September “on a fibre-to-the-home network to service 202 homes and businesses along parts of Perth Road 107, Perth Lines 40, 43 and 47, between Hampstead and Shakespeare in the Township of Perth East,” according to SWIFT’s press release.
Mornington Communications was awarded $875,000 in SWIFT funding for the project, which has a total value of $1.4 million, according to SWIFT’s approved projects page. The communities to be served by the fibre network include Amulree, Mennonite Corner, Ratzburg, Hampstead and Lisbon.
“With construction of the fibre-optic network well underway, homes located in the project area along Line 43 now have access to high-speed connectivity as Mornington Communications has begun turning up service to residents in the area. Residents located in the remaining underserved project area will continue to be brought online in a phased approach as the buildout of the high-speed network continues to progress,” the release says.
Construction of the new network is expected to be fully completed with service available to all locations within the SWIFT-funded project area by March 2022, according to the release.
“As a co-operative, Mornington strives to bring fast, reliable Internet to our local communities,” said Chelsea Smith, brand manger at Mornington Communications, in the release. “We’re proud to bring fibre technology to our Amulree project; an area considered mostly underserved will soon have access to Internet speeds of up to 1 Gig.”
Tuckersmith Communications has started construction “on a fibre-to-the-home network in the Municipality of West Perth to bring improved high-speed internet service to 114 rural underserved homes and businesses located throughout the communities of Slabtown, Bornholm and Willow Grove,” the press release says.
Tuckersmith Communications received $439,000 in SWIFT funding to undertake this fibre build that will serve the communities of Slabtown, Bornholm and Willow Grove. This broadband project has a total value of $979,000.
Construction of this network is expected to be completed with service fully available to all residents within the SWIFT-funded project area by August 2022, the release says.
“Tuckersmith Communications is pleased to partner with SWIFT in Perth County. This will allow us to extend our fibre network to many underserved rural residents,” said Ian Mathew, board chair of Tuckersmith Communications.
Finally, Wightman Telecom has begun construction on a fibre-optic network in the Municipality of North Perth “to bring high-speed connectivity to 91 homes located within the residential development of The Village Park located east of Listowel. Service is expected to be available to all locations within the SWIFT-funded project area by March 2022,” the release says.
Wightman Telecom received $140,000 in SWIFT funding for this broadband project, which has a total value of $274,000, according to information on SWIFT’s website.
