Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT; not to be confused with Apple’s programming language) is a non-profit regional broadband project, created by the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus to subsidize the expansion of high-speed internet networks across Southwestern Ontario, Caledon and the Niagara Region.
On Wednesday, SWIFT announced it has completed its procurement phase and has awarded 95 contracts in Southwestern Ontario, which will see $268 million spent on broadband infrastructure to bring high-speed internet to 63,254 homes and businesses in the region.
“Today in collaboration with the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, I’m happy to announce that the SWIFT program, which recently completed the procurement phase, continues to be a great success,” said Gary McNamara, SWIFT Board Chair, in a statement to iPhone in Canada.
SWIFT says 19 unique internet service providers (ISPs) were awarded contracts, to expand broadband networks to 345 communities including 4 First Nations. Check out the SWIFT infographic provided below:
“As a result of the program’s highly successful business model and thanks to the support received by the governments of Ontario and Canada, more than 63,000 underserved homes and businesses across our region, approximately 157,500 residents, will now have access to essential high-speed internet service as a result of SWIFT’s regional broadband initiative.”
SWIFT says 90% of the population in Southwestern Ontario will have access to at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload internet speeds, by 2023.
