New funding may aid spotty internet coverage

The Ontario government’s new plan to spend nearly $1 billion over six years to expand cellular and broadband service across the province could be a boon for Peterborough County, the county warden says.

Warden J. Murray Jones said internet connection can be spotty in the northern parts of the county — Trent Lakes and North Kawartha Township particularly — though poor service is reported everywhere across the rural areas outside urban Peterborough.

“There are more places with a lousy signal than a good one, out in the county,” Jones said.

He said that could be fixed soon now that Premier Doug Ford has committed funding to expand and improve broadband to underserved communities between now and 2026.

Not only will Peterborough County benefit, Jones said — he has been working on a project for years that could bring superior internet service to all of Eastern Ontario.

Jones is the chair of the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN), which is currently seeking both provincial and federal funding to help pay for ultrafast internet to the entire eastern region of the province, including Peterborough County.

The total cost of the project is expected to be $1.6 billion, but Jones points out that officials are seeking money from the province and the feds along with loans from the Canada Infrastructure Bank and private sector.

It was still unclear on Wednesday whether money from Ford’s announcement would be granted to the EORN project, but Jones said he’s optimistic.

The project would cover a huge swath of Ontario that’s underserviced, he said, and offer an internet speed of one gigabit per second.

Jones said EORN is eager to see this project through; it’s ambitious to try to offer coverage for such a large area but they’re ready to do it.

Ford made the funding announcement in Minden on Wednesday alongside Finance Minister Rod Phillips and Infrastructure Minister Laurie Scott, the MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock.

Scott stated in a government press release that the funding will make it easier for many Ontarians to work and to learn from home.

More than 1.4 million people in Ontario do not have broadband or cellular access, the release states, and as many as 12 per cent of households in the province.

Jones said that includes areas such as Stoney Lake, where some business people from the GTA have been wanting to come and work from their cottages lately because of the COVID-19 pandemic.