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UPDATE AS OF AUGUST 2010
In June 2009 Wellington County was awarded $1 million in funding by the Government of Ontario from their Rural Connections Broadband programme. This programme was established by the Province to provide high speed internet to rural areas not currently serviced by an existing internet provider.
Wellington County approved an initial proposal from Everus Communications upon initial knowledge of the project in January 2009. As of February 26, 2010 Barrett Xplore Inc. (BXI) purchased Everus and some clientele and assets. County staff, representatives from the Province and the Broadband Committee met with BXI on March 3, 2010. The decision was made by County Council on March 25, 2010 to proceed with negotiations for an agreement with BXI based on their experience with Rural Connections projects in Ontario and their presence in Wellington.
As no contractual agreements have been finalized to date, the County has not distributed any of the available funding for this project to BXI, and will not until BXI invests in providing high speed internet to unserviced rural areas in Wellington.
In early August, BXI released a statement to some of their current customers explaining that certain Everus broadcast towers, being at the end of their useful life, will be decommissioned as of September 1, 2010. This will impact some existing customers in the County of Wellington and those residents are being offered a different service package at a discounted rate until the new high speed internet services can be implemented in 2011. View the Frequently Asked Questions released by BXI for more information about this business decision.
This decision by BXI has no impact on our Rural Connections Broadband programme and will not affect our proceedings in negotiating an agreement regarding unserviced rural areas.
The County of Wellington is encouraging current customers to contact installers at Northwind Installations via phone at (519) 957-2438 or by email: workorder@northwindinstallation.com to schedule an appointment prior to August 31st, 2010.
Programme Background
In June 2008, the Government of Ontario announced a $30 million, four-year initiative designed to reduce broadband infrastructure gaps in underserved rural regions in southern Ontario.
Rural Connections will have a positive impact on families in rural Ontario by leveraging broadband infrastructure investment from private-sector businesses and public partners to enhance economic development and improve access to public services such as e-learning, e-health and e-government.
Rural Connections is led and administered by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) in partnership with the Ministries of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS) and Small Business and Entrepreneurship (MSBE).
For more information on the program please see the OMAFRA web site.
The County of Wellington, in partnership with all seven local Municipalities and Wellington Waterloo Community Futures (WWCFDC) is ready for high speed Internet! In February 2009, an application was submitted to request funding to cover the gaps that exist in the rural areas of Wellington County.
On June 19, 2009 John Wilkinson, MPP for Perth-Wellington announced that Wellington County was one of 14 municipalities selected to receive broadband funding from the Province’s Rural Connections program. The Province’s one third contribution of $1 million will go towards building $3 million in broadband infrastructure. Infrastructure that when completed, will provide a 90% chance of access to affordable broadband Internet for all areas of the County.
Link to OMAFRA press release
Link to County of Wellington press release
Questions? Contact: highspeed@wellington.ca
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Key Documents for Rural High Speed Internet
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