{"id":291615,"date":"2025-07-25T21:45:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T21:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/291615\/"},"modified":"2025-07-25T21:45:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T21:45:16","slug":"work-continues-on-high-speed-internet-project-in-northumberland-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/291615\/","title":{"rendered":"Work continues on high-speed internet project in Northumberland County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Work<\/a>Work is underway to the install the infrastructure needed for faster internet connectivity in the Municipality of Brighton. (Photo: Natalie Hamilton \/ kawarthaNOW)<\/p>\n

With shovels in the ground and a spool of thick orange cable being wheeled along the Municipality of Brighton\u2019s main street, work towards giving Northumberland County residents the option to connect to high-speed internet is moving ahead. <\/p>\n

The current construction project brings to Northumberland County a new broadband network. Work to install the fibre optic cable underground began in Brighton\u2019s downtown the week of July 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect this broadband rollout, which will connect 11,000 homes and businesses, will be completed by the end of this year,\u201d Northumberland County Warden and Municipality of Brighton Mayor Brian Ostrander recently told kawarthaNOW.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – content continues below<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Axle Telecom \u2014 part of a family of Canadian-owned telecommunications companies owned by Windsor Private Capital\u2019s WPC Infrastructure Fund that also includes EH!tel Networks, Bruce Telecom, and GBTel \u2014 is constructing the network.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the fibre is installed, each neighbourhood will be contacted by Axle Telecom to find out if they want to sign up for fibre-to-the-home connections,\u201d Ostrander said.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Municipality of Port Hope said the broadband project represents a major improvement for some Port Hope residents. Of the 11,000 homes and businesses eligible to gain access to high-speed internet, there are about 1,000 locations in Port Hope.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – content continues below<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunity response to the project has been overwhelmingly positive,\u201d a media release from the municipality noted. <\/p>\n

\u201cConsent rates from Port Hope residents agreeing to have their home or business connected to access the network have far exceeded expectations, with more than 65 per cent of qualifying addresses in Port Hope already opting in \u2014 well above the typical 20 per cent seen at this stage in similar projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReliable internet access is no longer a luxury, it\u2019s a necessity,\u201d Municipality of Port Hope Mayor Olena Hankivsky said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are committed to ensuring that every Port Hope home and business has the tools needed to thrive in an increasingly connected world. We also appreciate the federal and provincial commitments to see every home provided access to broadband and stand by this important goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement – content continues below<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The project partners have acknowledged that approximately 390 locations in Port Hope will not be connected in this initial rollout. They said planning is already underway for a second phase of this initiative, with Northumberland County \u201cactively engaged in discussions with the province to expand connectivity to additional households in Port Hope and across Northumberland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Historically, Northumberland\u2019s varied landscape has been noted as making access to reliable high-speed internet a challenge.<\/p>\n

But now with agreements in place between Northumberland County, the federal and provincial governments, and Windsor Private Capital, the project is anticipated to \u201cclose the digital divide in our community,\u201d the release stated. <\/p>\n

Advertisement – content continues below<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The county said crews are steadily installing fibre optic lines and completing the first property connections.<\/p>\n

Originally announced in 2022 with a $26.6 million investment from the province and an $18.4 million from the federal government through the Universal Broadband Fund, the provincial contribution has since increased to $45.8 million, bringing the combined federal and provincial contribution to $64.2 million.<\/p>\n

Northumberland County has also committed $700,000 towards the initiative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Work is underway to the install the infrastructure needed for faster internet connectivity in the Municipality of Brighton.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3161],"tags":[3082,53,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-291615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-internet","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114916066861585404","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}