Nothing imminent yet for Essex when it comes to high speed fibre optic Internet, but Councillor Sherry Bondy is now more confident about the potential.
Representatives with the SouthWestern Integrated Fibre project — otherwise known as SWIFT — laid out their plans to Essex council to help get fibre optic to underserved areas.
Nearly $300-million is being spent between the federal, provincial and local level governments along with private enterprise as part of the project.
As fibre optic becomes more available in spots across the region, including Windsor and Amherstburg, Councillor Bondy wanted to see how fast fibre could be installed across Essex.
Bondy says right now it's still too early to tell when fibre access will be more readily available across the town. "Let's open the doors and talk to our residents and find out more information from them and it will be up to them to let our communications director and to let us know where we're experiencing Internet difficulties — and hopefully we can then liaison with SWIFT and bring more fibre optic Internet to some of those pockets."
Essex councillor Sherry Bondy attends the regular meeting of council on August 21, 2017. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)
Bondy was encouraged to hear from SWIFT that Internet connectivity is seen as a utility like water or hydro and needs to be in place to power economic growth in the future. "People don't want to build businesses where there are bad Internet connections, we don't want to locate our town hall staff where there are bad Internet connections, people want to watch their Netflix — people want to have connectivity right?"
"Getting improved high speed Internet connectivity is a key issue for the town," says Bondy. "I think Essex is willing and our staff know that we want to continue this and they're looking too, to see how we can create a more accessible Essex."
There is only limited fibre connectivity in Essex, linking town hall with the Essex Civic Centre along with other government buildings and schools.