Eastern Ontario Regional Network launched

Jeff Green | Sep 02, 2010

EORN is coming.

A blue ribbon group of federal, municipal and provincial politicians gathered in Belleville on Tuesday morning, August 31, to make the formal announcement that a $170 million investment in high speed internet service in Eastern Ontario, the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN), will be gearing up next year.

The project includes a large fibre optic backbone that is being built by Bell Alliant. This includes new fibre installations in as many as 160 new locations in Eastern Ontario, with the goal of providing 10 megabytes per second (10 times the current norm) to 95% of the residents of Eastern Ontario.

In terms of bringing access to rural and remote regions, which are found throughout our own region, EORN includes expansion of service as one of its goals, and for remote regions Barrett Xplore has been brought on to provide satellite service.

EORN also has the goal of bringing in pricing that is “comparable to urban areas throughout Ontario”, according to the website that has been developed as part of the project.

Broadband access will help Eastern Ontario go further and faster,” said Gary Davison, Warden of the County of Frontenac, at the project’s launch in Belleville. “This investment will provide affordable, fast and reliable Internet service and support greater productivity, better educational opportunities and economic benefits for all of our residents.”

Frontenac County was one of the largest municipal investors in the project, making a commitment of $1 million, in the hopes of being compensated to the tune of over $440,000 by the City of Kingston. Although the city is not a part of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC), it will still see an improvement in service in the rural parts of the city as a result of the project.

At a meeting in August, Kingston City Council committed $100,000 to the project right away, and said they would provide the additional $340,000 if the build out of the system satisfies City Council. If not, Frontenac County ratepayers will be footing a $900,000 bill.

The Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) is a project that came out the efforts of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus. The EOWC is made up of the wardens from 13 rural Eastern Ontario Counties, from Northumberland and Peterborough Counties in the southwest to Stormont Dundas and Gleangarry and Prescott Russell and the Quebec border to the East. They initially got together about 10 years ago to advocate as a group to the province as rural municipalities that are saddled with maintenance costs on downloaded roads and bridges. Since then the group has taken an active role in promoting regional economic development, and in 2008 secured a four-year $80 million commitment to the Eastern Ontario Development Fund.

To underline the importance this project has taken on for all levels of government, Federal Infrastructure Minister Chuck Strahl was on hand for the announcement, along with Ontario Minister of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Carol Mitchell, and Ontario Education Minister and Hastings Prince Edward MPP Leona Dombrowsky.

All 13 EOWC counties were represented as well, as was Bell Alliant and Barrett Xplore Inc.