Eastern Ontario regional connectivity has come a long way since 2012, and Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) Chief Executive Officer Jason St.-Pierre addressed the June Northumberland County council meeting to discuss this progress.
St.-Pierre described EORN as a non-profit organization dedicated to improving rural connectivity, supporting economic growth and quality of life. It was created by the Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus in 2012 to help create innovative public-private partnerships to address the digital divide.
With a small team of 13 employees, they have done a lot. In their first three years, they placed more than 5,500 km. Of new fibre, connected 63 business parks to fibre, connected four First Nation reserves and built $175-million worth of infrastructure (worth about $260-million today).
Phase 2 began in 2014, when MPs and MPPs asked the EOWC to fix the gaps in Eastern Ontario's cell network. Thus began the Cell Gap Project. Government support was secured and Rogers proved to be the successful bidder for the contract.
New tower construction has begun – Northumberland has 10 additional towers, St.-Pierre said.
About 312 existing sites have been upgraded to support LTE phones as well as 5G. Some 297 of them are now complete. As well, 261 new sites are being built, 13 of which are in service.
It is expected that project work will be completed by 2025. Five-year service-level contracts with Rogers are in place to ensure capacity is maintained.
St.-Pierre said the $300-million in investments in this project break down to $71-million each from Federal and provincial governments, $150-million from Rogers and the remainder from the EOWC. Of that last amount, Northumberland contributed $668,867. Upon project completion, the return on investment is estimated to be from 20-to-one to as high as 50-to-one.
St.-Pierre set out the steps involved in 18-to-24-month process of construction, the most difficult and time-consuming of which is finding a property that meets network needs and working with its owner.
From there, a lease will be negotiated, and archaeological and environmental assessments conducted. They will work with local land-use authorities, then notify the province that the site is ready to proceed. After that, it's on to site preparations and the ordering and delivery of supplies for construction.
Throughout the entire process, consultation with Indigenous communities and organizations is on-going. To date, St.-Pierre said, they have consulted with 18 Indigenous communities through more than 120 meetings and phone calls.
Each tower is 60 to 90 metres high and can support both 4G and 5G. Each will have six antennas attached to the top, each of which is about as big as a door and as heavy as a refrigerator – you can imagine the challenge making sure these structures can withstand wind shear and ice weighting, he said.
Warden Mandy Martin expressed an interest in the leases, wondering if there might be some benefits to local land owners.
The details of each lease are negotiated between Rogers and the owner, St.-Pierre said, adding that any property owner interested in learning more can do so on the EORN website.