Advocating for better internet connectivity in Eastern Ontario

They have been grouped, mostly, under the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (Regional Teachers Network), and are calling for regional and federal governments to provide $ 200 million each to address this problem, with Project Gig.

The initiative is estimated to be worth about $ 1.5 billion in total. We depend on the private sector to finance the portion of government contributions that will not be covered.

In my municipality there are urban sectors where it is very, very fast, but when you leave the villages a little bit, [c’est autre chose], Pierre LeReau, Mayor of Russell, confirmed in an interview with ICI Ottawa-Gatineau.

In many parts of eastern Ontario, he said, connectivity is currently 10 times slower than the minimum CRTC standard.

I think that with the last year, with the spread of the epidemic, everyone realized the importance of contact, of course, with the children’s school [et] Access to a health system that is hypothetical for many, The person who is also an admin member has been added to the teachers.

Cornwall Mayor Bernadette Clement agreed. we […]We have a fairly good and adequate network, but among our partners in rural areas, there are already growing needs, and since the pandemic, in addition, we see needs in terms of work at home.Did she say.

The initiative, endorsed by 59 elected officials, aims to provide high-speed internet coverage to 95% of their population.

It really is an unfair project [s’attarder à] Today, but also in the future

Mark Kelly, owner of KB MEDIA graphics company based in Castellman, believes a lack of connectivity is a burden on innovation in the region.

More than 25 years have passed[y] A.m. I don’t understand why he hasn’t progressed further. We are located between Ottawa and Montreal […] We have increasingly innovative businesses and farms in Eastern Ontario, He insisted.

We work with access […] From about 25 to 35 [mégaoctets]It is not strong enough for many companies with more than four or five employees, He continued.

If approved, the Elected Officials Scheme will provide high-speed internet access 20 times higher than the minimum CRTC standard.

The governments of Canada and Ontario allocated $ 7 billion to improve internet access in their recent budgets.

With information from Nafeh Alibert