Feds to Spend $16 Million to Bring High-Speed Internet to 7,511 Homes

Universal broadband fund june 2021

The federal government has announced nearly $16 million in funding from the Rapid Response Stream of the Universal Broadband Fund.

The money will see 27 projects to bring high-speed Internet to 7,511 underserved households in 49 communities across rural Ontario, notes Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

Companies such as Bell Canada, Cogeco, Eastlink, Rogers and Xplornet are some of the internet service providers set to roll out broadband expansion. The cost per home works out to roughly $2,130 per home.

You can see the provider, funding amount and communities part of this announcement below:

CleanShot 2021 06 25 at 10 58 36

“High-speed Internet service is essential to the success of everyone living and working in rural communities across Ontario. Today’s investment will bring reliable, high-speed broadband access to 7,511 households in 49 communities in the province,” said Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, in a statement.

“This will help create jobs, improve access to health care and online learning services, and keep people connected to their family, friends and loved ones. Our government has committed over $281 million to 125 broadband projects in Ontario, which will connect over 115,000 more households to better, faster Internet. We will continue to make investments like these to help connect every Canadian to the high-speed Internet they need,” added Monsef.

Back in November 2020, the Universal Broadband Fund was launched with $2.75 billion in its coffers, to expand high speed internet to 98% of Canadians by 2026, while a 100% target is planned for 2030, with internet speeds of at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload.

For Canadians in rural areas that cannot wait for these taxpayer-funded internet installations to take place, they can sign up here for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet, as it continues to expand across Canada and the globe.

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