Northumberland County says the Northumberland Broadband Project has reached a significant milestone, marking the transition from building the network to connecting residents and businesses.
The county announced construction has now surpassed one million metres of underground conduit installed, while more than 600 kilometres of fibre optic cable has been pulled through the new network. With major infrastructure now in place, crews are beginning property-level connections and activating service in many areas.
Once completed later this year, the project will bring reliable high-speed internet to more than 11,000 underserved and unserved homes, farms and businesses across Northumberland and Alderville First Nation.
County Warden Bob Crate says the project is now delivering on years of planning and collaboration.
“With over one million metres of conduit installed and fibre now extending across the county, we are moving rapidly from construction to connection.”
Residents whose properties are included in the project will be contacted by Axle Telecom to arrange a voluntary, no-cost fibre connection from roadside infrastructure to their homes or businesses. Once connected, customers will have the option of subscribing to high-speed internet service.
The county says improved connectivity will support everything from remote work and online learning to agriculture, health care and small business operations.
The broadband initiative was launched to address the fact that roughly one-third of households in Northumberland lacked access to reliable high-speed internet. While this phase will significantly improve coverage, county officials say work will continue to pursue additional funding and partnerships to reach remaining underserved areas.
The project is supported by $18.4 million from the federal government’s Universal Broadband Fund and $45.8 million from the Province of Ontario.
(Written by: Joseph Goden)
