Feds, province announce $97M for northern high-speed internet

The provincial and federal governments connected in Sudbury on June 24 to announce more than $97 million to expand broadband internet service to thousands of households in small towns between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie.  

The announcement Monday came from federal Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings and provincial parliamentary secretary Amarjot Sandhu. 

The project will be carried out by ROCK Network, part of the PomeGran Group, and will provide high-speed connectivity to roughly 18,600 homes — including 2,500 Indigenous households — along the Highway 17 corridor, the North Shore of Lake Huron, Huron Shores and Manitoulin Island.

Hutchings said the expansion project is part of a larger plan initiated by the federal government several years ago.

"Our goal at the federal government is to have 98 per cent of Canadians connected to affordable reliable high-speed Internet by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030," said Hutchings. 

She said the investment has been part of the larger federal Universal Broadband Fund, a multi-year investment of $3.25 billion dollars, which has improved connectivity on a national scale in recent years.

"And I'm delighted that more than $850 million has been spent in Ontario since 2015.” She said this latest investment of $97 is building up "high-speed connectivity in your province right here in your backyard."

Speaking to the Ontario investment was Amarjot Sandhu, parliamentary secretary to Ontario Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma. Sandhu remarked on the importance of internet service.

"In today's digital world, reliable access to high-speed internet is crucial for work, education, healthcare, communication, and entertainment."

Sandhu said providing high speed connectivity to every community in the province, including all of Northern Ontario, is a priority for Ontario. 

"And we have made it a priority to achieve this ambitious goal by the end of 2025. Our bold plan is supported by a historic investment of nearly $4 billion, which represents the largest single investment in high speed internet in any province by any government in Canadian history," said Sandhu.

Also commenting on the importance of the investment was Sudbury MP Viviane Lapointe who said Northern Ontario MPs have been lobbying hard to expand broadband access. 

"Our government has been delivering on our promise to ensure that every Canadian from coast to coast to coast has access no matter where they are,” she said. “I can tell you as Northern Ontario caucus chair, we've had very rich discussions around the prosperity of our communities and prosperity of future populations in our communities. And we know that broadband and having good access to that is a key element to that success."

Nickel Bell MP Marc Serré said he was pleased with Hutchings for reaching out to rural MPs for their input on the broadband project. 

Serré said the expansion would see improvements in people's health, improvements in local economies and create access to more jobs in local areas.

Sault Ste. Marie MP Terry Sheehand commented that expanded internet would improve connectivity for a lot of ordinary people, and how important online news and community resources are, particularly to seniors.. 

"I think about how seniors combat social isolation, through the internet, getting a lot of their news from places are really, really critical, whether it is about forest fires, or a community event.”

Len Gillis is a reporter for Sudbury.com.