Chatham-Kent council is standing behind Entegrus and TekSavvy, as they work to provide high speed internet to rural areas of the municipality.
A report outlining a plan to bring fibre broadband infrastructure to communities through the federal government's Connect to Innovate (CTI) program was brought to council Monday night.
Council was asked to support and invest in the project.
The recommendation put forward was for the municipality to invest $3.15-million into Entegrus over the next four years, as part of an equity investment, which would be matched by TekSavvy as part of the CTI program. An additional equity investment of $3.35-million was also asked for, which would also be matched by TekSavvy.
The total disbursement of funds will go back to council for final approval following results of the CTI application.
Without debate, council approved the report along with its recommendations 17-0.
"For the small amount of money that we're investing, it will pay huge dividends -- not only in the economic sense in direct money but also in the social aspects," says Mayor Randy Hope.
The CTI program is offering $500-million to install and upgrade fibre broadband infrastructure in rural areas across the country. However, additional grants and partnerships will be sought after as $500-million "is not a lot of money for all of Canada."
Hope adds submitting the CTI application to Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) will hopefully let the government know that more money needs to be invested in connecting rural areas.
"We'll make them realize that more money is needed," he says. "Our federal and provincial members need to stand up in supporting what we're doing here locally to get fibre into the ground -- get the trunk into the ground."
Hope says installing fibre broadband infrastructure would provide more opportunities for local businesses and schools, which would be beneficial in the long run.
