Project Update

The County’s Rural Connections Project has now been completed.  Based on a revised coverage map provided by Bell Aliant, the Wimax service is available across 90% of the County.  While new technologies and services continue to come to market, Bell has committed to support the Wimax service up until 2014.  If you are interested in acquiring the service, please check the revised coverage map and then call 1-866-875-9591 to get in touch with the Bell Rural Internet Group who can assist you.  Since officially launching in December 2009, the provincially funded Rural Connections Program has enabled over 2,000 citizens to access high speed internet services in rural areas of the County.

A third and final phase of the Rural Connections program is being led by Tiny Township and includes selected areas of Tiny, Oro-Medonte, and Ramara townships.  The project is awaiting final approval from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and is expected to be implemented over the summer of 2012.  As details of service coverage are available, the maps will be posted on this web site.

Rural Connections Program Background

The County of Simcoe’s application to the Rural Connections Broadband Program was approved by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) late in 2009. Through that initiative, the provincial government provided $1 million to encourage the building of high speed Internet infrastructure in rural, under serviced areas of Simcoe County. An additional component of the program aimed to provide community outreach through information sessions and training workshops to help both residents and businesses to maximize their use of the new facilities as they came on-line. In Simcoe County, we conducted several information sessions and provided free Internet training sessions for the public in the first half of 2010.

Collaborating with the County led project were the member municipalities of Adjala-Tosorontio, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Clearview, Essa, New Tecumseth, Tay, Tiny, Severn, Springwater and Oro-Medonte. The Simcoe Community Access Network (SCAN), the Library Co-operative, the Small Business Enterprise Centres, and the Community Futures Development Corporations also assisted with the project.

This goal of the project was to assist in building strong communities within the County as both residents and businesses have become more reliant on broadband Internet for their daily activities. This project has been beneficial in many areas such as:

  • Improved connections to web-based government services at all levels
  • Faster access to a growing list of on-line library resources
  • Broader opportunities for businesses to establish themselves throughout the County
  • Telecommuting provisions to accommodate home-based employment
  • Improved student access to web-based resources for homework and distance education
  • Support for healthcare professionals and patients seeking medical information and services
  • Overall contribution to the quality of life in Simcoe County

The project targeted under serviced areas right across the County. Through a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP), proponents were invited to develop and submit comprehensive communications infrastructure plans that would target those areas and serve the residents and businesses in under serviced areas. The successful proponent, Bell Aliant has worked with partners Inukshuk and Bell Canada to implement the project over the past 3 years. County staff provided oversight of the project to ensure that OMAFRA objectives were met and the vendor commitments were achieved.