Underserved areas getting faster internet
City to fill service gaps that include school, residences
High-speed internet is coming to half a dozen pockets of Windsor where unreliable service has caused headaches for years.
“There are pockets in the city where residents to this day struggle with slow and unreliable Internet connections,” said Essex County Warden Gary Mcnamara, who took part in a media conference announcing the plans. “Today's announcement will change that for more than 190 households, businesses and institutions including an elementary school. This pandemic has shown us how vital the internet is to positive educational outcomes.”
The service will expand to six or seven pockets in the city, including a large area southeast of the airport. Broadband is also coming to a section of Howard Avenue that includes Royal Canadian Legion Branch 594 and the elementary school Al-hijra Academy.
Construction will begin next year with completion planned in mid-2022. Some locations including Al-hijra and the legion will be hooked up before 2022.
The high- speed expansion comes through a partnership with Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) and Cogeco Connexion. SWIFT is leveraging about $570,000 in funding contributions from municipal partners. Cogeco Connexion has committed $366,000.
The result will be more than 12 kilometres of new fibre-optic cabling to fill service gaps around Windsor.
SWIFT chair David Mayberry likened expanding broadband access to building the railroads.
“That was about connecting Canadians,” he said. “In Southwestern Ontario we're trying to connect all of the people to the digital highway, maybe the new rail line. But it's much bigger than simply connecting a nation. It's about connecting us to the whole global village.”
Windsor-tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk connected SWIFT and Al-hijra to get the ball rolling on the project after touring the school in September.
In October, he also made a joint announcement with the province about the rollout of a $19 million broadband expansion for 5,173 Essex County homes and businesses.
“Todays' announcement will allow schools like Al-hijra Academy, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 594, St. Nicholas Macedonian Orthodox Church and other community organizations on this stretch of Howard Avenue to access high-speed broadband Internet services,” he said. “At the same time, the high-quality broadband Internet will be extended to 190 households, businesses and institutions within in the City of Windsor.”
Al-hijra president Tarek Hammoud said the school, with about 250 students learning online during the pandemic, doesn't have high speed despite sitting 100 metres from the broadband trunk line.
“When Irek came out at the beginning of September and toured the school and asked what we needed, what our biggest challenges were, the first thing we did say was our internet speeds,” he said. “He was really shocked about how we were so close to the city but still had these low speeds. We were working off a satellite connection with 10 megabytes per second initially. Now, going up to speeds of one gigabyte per second is something we could only dream of.”