NEOnet's Efforts to Bring High-speed Internet (Broadband) to Northeastern Ontario
Since 2002, NEOnet has worked on a number of broadband expansion projects designed to bring high-speed internet access to nearly 40 communities in northeastern Ontario. The Cochrane District Broadband project was the first to be completed – November 2006. For more information on this project visit our completed projects page. Currently NEOnet is working in partnership with Ontera, NOHFC and FedNor to bring high-speed internet service to fifteen communities in the Timiskaming District and the Gogama/Foleyet area. The $5.5M dollar project, which did not receive funding approvals until Summer 2007, is scheduled to be complete by the fall of 2008 – project updates can be found below.
About Broadband in the NEOnet Region
- Updates - Timiskaming and Gogama-Foleyet Area Project
- Updates - Timiskaming District Project
- Updates - Gogama-Foleyet Area Project
- Why Don't we have High Speed Internet Yet?
- Click to view a map of all Broadband communities.
Updates - Timiskaming and Gogama-Foleyet Area Project:
January 2010 – Updates by location:
- Ontera's Broadband Infrastrcuture deployment is complete
- Broadband service is now available in Coleman Township, Chamberlain Township, Town of Latchford, Temagami, Goodfish, Gogama, Gowganda, Shining Tree, Westree, Nettie Lake, Hough Lake, Chaput Hughes, King Kirkland, Gauthier township, Foleyet, Kenogami and Sesekinika.
Contact Ontera at 1-888-566-8372 to place yourself on an installation list.
November 2009 – Updates by location:
- Broadband service available in Coleman Township, Chamberlain Township, Town of Latchford, Temagami, Goodfish, Gogama, Gowganda, Shining Tree, Westree, Nettie Lake, Hough Lake, Chaput Hughes, King Kirkland, Gauthier township and Foleyet.
- Construction of the tower in Kenogami is nearing completion, which allow for service to be available in Kenogami and Sesekinika by the end of November 2009.
September 2009 – Updates by location:
- Broadband service available in Coleman Township, Chamberlain Township, Town of Latchford, Temagami, Goodfish, Nettie Lake, Hough Lake, Chaput Hughes, King Kirkland, Gowganda, Gauthier township and Foleyet.
- Delay in construction of a tower in Kenogami has set back service delivery in Kenogami and Sesekinika - tower construction to begin in early fall 2009 estimated completion fall 2009.
- Outside work in Gogama, Westree and Shining Tree is progressing estimated completion early fall 2009.
June 2009 – Updates by location:
- Broadband service available in Coleman Township, Chamberlain Township, Town of Latchford, Temagami, Goodfish, Nettie Lake, Hough Lake, Chaput Hughes, King Kirkland, and Gauthier township.
- Delay in construction of a tower in Kenogami has set back service delivery in Kenogami and Sesekinika - tower construction to begin in spring 2009 estimated completion fall 2009.
- Outside work in Gogama, Westree and Shining Tree is progressing estimated completion summer 2009.
- Fibre line to Foleyet is complete - installations beginning June 22, 2009.
February 2009 – Updates by location:
- Tower construction is complete and site testing and installations are underway in Coleman Township and Latchford.
- Tower construction is complete in Chamberlain Township, Gauthier Township, Hough Lake, and Gowganda.
- Delay in construction of a tower in Kenogami has set back service delivery in Kenogami and Sesekinika - tower construction to begin in spring 2009.
- Equipment has been installed on the service towers in King Kirkland, Chaput Hughes, and Goodfish. Site testing and installations are underway.
- Towers and buildings for Gogama and Westree have been constructed and access points are being installed - broadband service delayed due to problems with Shining Tree Tower.
- The Shining Tree Tower has overcome initial obstacles and site preparation and tower construction is underway.
- Fibre lines are being run to Foleyet and tower construction is to commence shortly.
October 2008 – Updates by location:
- Tower construction is underway in Coleman Township (tower to be located beside the township office).
- Foundation work for the tower in Chamberlain Township and Gauthier Township is underway.
- Site preparation is underway in Kenogami and Sesekinika.
- Gowganda tower is also being fabricated and equipment is being installed.
- Equipment has been installed in King Kirkland and Chaput Hughes (sites are currently being tested by technicians).
- Towers and buildings for Shining Tree, Gogama and Westree are being fabricated and will be moved to the sites when they are ready. The Shining Tree Tower has been stalled temporarily, which will have an impact on service in Gogama and Westree.
- Fibre lines are being run to Foleyet. Public tower construction consultation closes October 31, 2008.
Contact Ontera at 1-888-566-8372 to place yourself on an installation list.
September 2008 – High-speed internet service now available in Temagami, Latchford, Goodfish and Hough Lake. Contact Ontera for more details 1-888-566-8372.
July 2008 – Progress has been slowed somewhat due to community impact consultations and property access, however Ontera is diligently rolling out the required infrastructure to support a high quality, robust broadband network. Ontera is also upgrading and reinforcing its core network to ensure the availability of sufficient bandwidth to deliver services to the communities involved in the project. The project is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2008.
March 2008 – The construction phase of the Timiskaming District and Gogama/Foleyet area broadband expansion project will commence early Spring 08 with full deployment to the identified communities by Fall 2008. The plan calls for the communities involved in the project to go live - high speed internet access is available - as soon as construction is completed in the respective communities. this means that some communities will receive high speed internet service before others in the project. This site will be updated as more information becomes available.
October 2007 – The planning phase of the Timiskaming District and Gogama/Foleyet area broadband expansion project is wrapping up, which will result in the project being extended by at least 1 month. Communities involved in the project will have access to high-speed internet by November 2008. Further details on the availability of high-speed in your area will be posted here when the scheduling is complete.
July 2007 - On July 24th, MP Bruce Stanton, on behalf of Minister Tony Clement, announced a $2.1M FedNor contribution to our Timiskaming and Gogama-Foleyet Area broadband project. All funding is now in place for this $5.6M project. In the photo below, Amedeo Bernardi from Ontera and Michel Desjardins, Chair of NEOnet accept a cheque from MP Bruce Stanton.
June 2007 - On June 21, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation announced funding of $2.1M for the $5.6M Timiskaming and Gogama-Foleyet Area broadband project. We are currently working on the agreement with our private sector partner Ontera and engineering is underway. We expect construction to begin in September, with the first clients receiving service as early as December. In the photo below, Minister Rick Bartolucci announces the contribution towards NEOnet’s project.
April 2007: We expect to receive the funding agencies’ decision on our broadband project by the end of June. Once funding is confirmed and our contracts are signed, construction will begin.
March 2007: The funding agencies continue to review our funding proposals for the Timiskaming and Gogama-Foleyet Area broadband project.Updates - Timiskaming District Project:
September 2006: The funding proposals have been submitted to the funding agencies. The Gogama-Foleyet Area project and the Timiskaming project have been joined together for efficiencies.
August 2006: Ontera has been selected as the preferred vendor for this project. If funding is approved, Ontera will provide high speed internet to the communities the project.
June 2006: All changes and clarifications to the proposals will be received by June 23rd. Funding proposals are underway.
February 2006: Proposals have been received. NEOnet is reviewing proposals for high speed in the Timiskaming district.
December 2005: NEOnet has issued a request for proposals to bring high speed internet to the Timiskaming district. Closing date is at the end of January 2006. Communities included are: Township of Armstrong, Township of Brethour, Township of Casey, Township of Chamberlain, Municipality of Charlton-Dack, Township of Coleman, Township of Evanturel, Township of Gauthier, Township of Harley, Township of Harris, Township of Hilliard, Township of Hudson, Township of Kerns, Kenogami, Temagami North, Sesekinika, Latchford and Thornloe.
Updates - Gogama-Foleyet Area Project
September 2006: Ontera was selected as the preferred vendor for this project. Funding proposals have been submitted. The Gogama-Foleyet Area project and the Timiskaming project have been joined together for efficiencies.
June 2006: All changes and clarifications to the proposals will be received by June 23rd. Funding proposals are underway.
February 2006: Proposals have been received. NEOnet is reviewing proposals for high speed in the Gogama-Foleyet area.
December 2005: NEOnet has issued a request for proposals to bring high speed internet to the Gogama-Foleyet area. Closing date is at the end of January 2006. Communities included are: Gogama, Shining Tree, Westree, Foleyet and Gowganda. Mattagami First Nation will be served through a Knet project.To view a full-size map of all Broadband communities, click on the image below.
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Why don't we have high speed internet yet?
Quick Facts:
- In 2003, NEOnet began working on the broadband projects. There were two broadband funding programs available at that time: Industry Canada's BRAND program, and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade's COBRA program. BRAND was a competitive pilot program with limited dollars, which meant that only a fraction of the worthwhile projects received funding. NEOnet saw only one of its projects receive funding. Within months of being launched, the new COBRA program was cancelled.
- NEOnet staff, steering committee members, and consultants have spent over two thousand hours on these applications and the one funded project since January, 2003.
- Getting high speed internet to our unserved communities requires an 80-90% government subsidy for capital equipment
- In the fall of 2005, FedNor announced that it was allocating some funds to broadband development, specifically for transport infrastructure and points of presence. This will help NEOnet bring high speed internet to the remaining unserved communities.
What are the challenges in getting high speed internet in our communities?
Northern Ontario has a huge land base, and a low population. The population density is about 1 person/km2, which makes it very expensive to install the equipment for high speed internet.High speed internet requires two things: (See Figure 1)
1) The first is digital transport, the "pipeline" that carries the bandwidth from larger centres (eg. Timmins, North Bay) to a central switch in a small community. There are three types:
- fibre optic cable (on poles or buried in the ground) - this costs ~$10-20,000/km
- wireless transmission (similar to cell phone towers) - this costs ~$5-10,000/km
- satellite signals-smaller capital costs but monthly operating costs are very high
2) The second is local access and distribution of the "high speed signal" from the community's central switch to the houses that want the service. This is done via cable (same as cable TV), copper wire (your phone line) or wireless transmission (which uses line-of-sight antennae). Once digital transport is in place, it can cost $200K or more to distribute the signal locally.
Figure 1: Simple diagram of transport and local access mechanism
Why do the private sector telcos need such high subsidies to give us internet?
Private sector businesses can't offer a service if they're going to lose money. Our unserved communities are very small, and can't generate enough revenues to pay off the huge capital investment required, plus the ongoing operating costs. That's why many don't have high speed right now---the private sector can't pay down the capital investment unless they have subsidies.
What is NEOnet doing to help communities get high speed?
NEOnet is developing business plans and writing funding proposals, all at no cost to the communities. While we're fortunate to have access to government programs, the process to secure funding (which is beyond our control) can take 12-36 months. These programs are usually competitive, which means that not every application will be successful.
You can lobby the government by sending letters to your members of Parliament. To be the most effective, send a copy to your region's MP, MPP, the Minister of FedNor and the Provincial Minister of Northern Development and Mines:
Timiskaming
Anthony Rota (MP)
95 Meridian Ave.
Bag 2080
Haileybury, ON
P0J 1K0
PH: (800) 461-1394
FAX: 705-672-2681
rotaa2@parl.gc.ca
David Ramsay (MPP)
Cochrane/Timiskaming
Room 416 - Main Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
M7A 1A4
PH: 416-325-7137
FAX: 416-325-9007
Gogama
Mr. Raymond Bonin (MP)
1475-2 HWY 69 North
Val Caron, ON
P3N 1M7
PH: (800) 267-4829
FAX: 705-897-2223
France Gelinas (MPP)
Nickel Belt
2945 HWY 69N
Val Caron, ON
P3N 1N3
PH: 705-897-3887
francegelinas@ontariondp.com
Cochrane
Mr. Charlie Angus (MP)
60 Wilson Avenue.
Timmins, ON
P4N 2R8
PH: 705-360-4404
info@charlieangus.net
Gilles Bisson (MPP)
Timmins James Bay
Room 213 - Main Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
M7A 1A5
gilles@gillesbisson.com
Notable Ministers
The Honourable Michael Gravelle (MPP)
Minister of Northern Development
and Mines
Suite 700 - 159 Cedar Street
Sudbury, ON
P3E 6A5
Tel: (416) 327-0633
Fax (416) 327-0665
mgravelle.mpp@liberal.ola.org
The Honourable Tony Clement (MP)
Minister for the Federal Economic
Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
202 Main Street West
Huntsville, ON
P1H 1X9
Tel: (866) 375-8669
Clement.T@parl.gc.ca
If you have any questions about high-speed access or would like a status report, please contact the NEOnet office at 705-360-1353. We need your help to make this happen! PLEASE send us your letters of support.
Notes:
1-Broadband for Rural and Northern Development (BRAND) is an Industry Canada program that funded up to 50% of the capital costs for high speed internet. It was a competitive pilot project with a budget of $100M for all of Canada.
2-Ongoing operating costs are also expensive. For example, in a community of 500 people, if 100 households and businesses bought the service, that would generate ~$5000 per month. That might just cover the monthly operating expenses of the internet provider, but it doesn't leave enough to help pay off the capital investment.