Broadband_09-25

Jeff Green | Jun 25, 2009

Last summer a consultant for Frontenac County recommended that instead of applying for a single grant for rural broadband, the County should apply for a grant to cover gaps in the south and North Frontenac should apply for a separate grant, at a later grant intake date. That way more money could potentially flow from the Province.

The strategy worked.

The County received a grant last fall, and towers or line of site wireless internet in several locations are now into the approval stage.

Now, the North Frontenac application has been successful as well. The province will provide $334,887 and Frontenac County will provide matching funding, with the final third of the million dollar project to be paid for by the contractor who answers a request for proposal to provide service.

The granting program, the Rural Connections Broadband program, is administered by the Ontario Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) under Minister Leona Dombrowsky.

“This is a giant leap forward for the people of North Frontenac. We have worked hard to come up with an infrastructure strategy that will provide high-speed Internet to most of our residents and make our area more attractive for economic development,” said Mayor Ron Maguire in response to news of the grant.

Actionable Intelligence will oversee the request for proposal process in consultation with the township.