High-Speed Internet Projects Get Green Light

McGuinty Government Partners With Rural Municipalities to Build Digital Highway

Fifteen rural Ontario municipalities are one important step closer to having high-speed Internet infrastructure.

The municipalities successfully applied for funding under the province's Rural Connections Broadband Program. The program's goal is to bring broadband access to rural and remote areas currently under-serviced in southern Ontario.

Broadband combines telecommunications infrastructure and service to deliver more Internet information at speeds far greater than dial-up service.

QUOTES

"We are turning miles into milliseconds with the announcement of 15 broadband projects today and the promise of more to come," said Leona Dombrowsky, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. "Our long term commitment to rural broadband enables municipalities to plan for the future in partnership with the Ontario government."

"Bringing high-speed Internet to communities across Ontario is an important part of our government's plan to strengthen the economy," said Harinder Takhar, Minister of Small Business and Consumer Services. "We're investing in tools so Ontario's businesses and entrepreneurs can have seamless access to broadband across our province."

"Broadband is an information highway that we're building from the front door and the loading dock of every business in rural Ontario," said Minister of Government Services, Ted McMeekin.

"Improved broadband will help Aboriginal people and communities access greater education delivery services and economic development opportunities," said Brad Duguid, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. "These improvements can only strengthen and enhance the quality of life for Aboriginal people in Ontario."

QUICK FACTS

• Today's announcement of 15 new broadband projects amounts to a provincial commitment of $8.8 million. In the next four years, the Ontario government will invest up to $30 million in rural partnerships which will build rural Ontario's broadband infrastructure.
• In 2007, 18 projects marked the first wave of broadband infrastructure undertaken jointly by rural municipalities and the province. Thanks to the province's strategy, today's announcement brings the total to 33 projects.
• Broadband is defined as a high-capacity link between end users and access network suppliers at a minimum download speed of 1.5 megabits per second.
  
  

LEARN MORE

About the Rural Connections Broadband Program

For more information, contact:

Sherry Persaud, Minister Dombrowsky's Office, 416-326-6439
Brent Ross, Communications Branch, 416-326-9342