Municipalities in the Ottawa Valley will benefit from a $362-million investment to bring high-speed internet to 90,124 rural households in eastern Ontario. The information was discussed by the County of Renfrew development and property committee meeting Tuesday afternoon (August 10th, 2021).
In Greater Madawaska and McNab/Braeside over $5.1-million will help connect up to 747 homes and businesses to high speed internet.
Barry’s Bay, Eganville, Comberemere, Hopefield and Wilno are part of a $22.3-million investment to connect up to 4,190 homes and businesses to increased access to high speed internet.
A $13.6-million investment will also help connect up to 6,713 homes and businesses in Arnprior, Burnstown, Pakenham, Carp, Glasgow Station, White Lake, Fitzroy Harbour, Dunrobin, Constance Bay, Braeside and Marathon Village to high speed internet.
The investment from the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario will support large-scale, fibre-based projects that will provide high-speed Internet access to all corners of the province by 2025.
This investment builds on Ontario’s recently announced investment of up to $14.7 million for 13 new projects which also benefit homes in the Eganville area.
Director of Development and Property for the County of Renfrew, Craig Kelley, says the technology will likely be brought to newly built homes and the roadway in front of older homes. Kelley says there’s still the question of bringing fibre into homes that currently have 40 or 50-year old technology.
Renfrew County Warden Debbie Robinson told committee members this is separate from the Eastern Ontario Regional Network’s (EORN) Cell Gap Project. The EORN project has a public-private partnership valued at more than $300 million.
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New funding will help connect Eganville and Bancroft to high speed internet