ALDERVILLE FIRST NATION, ON, Nov. 9, 2012 /CNW/ -The First Nation community of Alderville today celebrated a new high
speed fibre optic connection to the Internet made possible through the
Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN), Ontario's largest rural
broadband network project.
"Access to modern, high-speed Internet is essential for First Nation
communities and businesses to grow and participate in the digital
economy," said Rick Norlock, Member of Parliament for
Northumberland—Quinte West, on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel,
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. "Our government
is proud to have supported this new opportunity for Alderville First
Nation. This broadband network will help the community to connect with
family and friends in other parts of Canada and the world."
"Improving broadband access across rural Ontario and First Nations
strengthens the economy and makes the digital world available to
everyone - small and medium-sized businesses, band councils, municipal
governments and citizens," said the Honourable Ted McMeekin, Ontario
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. "The Alderville
network is fast enough to allow users to complete online education,
video conference with family anywhere in the world and download a movie
in minutes. It's a story of progress."
"This new high-speed connection will improve the quality of services
that we can provide to our community members - linking them to better
health care services as well as new educational and economic
opportunities," said Chief James Marsden of Alderville First Nation.
About 30 kilometres north of Cobourg, Alderville First Nation is located
within Northumberland County, intersected by County Road 45, and on the
south side of Rice Lake, Ontario. The First Nation community has about
300 members living in Alderville and more than 650 members who live
elsewhere.
High-speed Internet connections are now available at Alderville's
community centre and health services, student services and
administrative offices. With download speeds of up to 10 Mbps, this
will greatly enhance the services that are available at these important
community hubs, such as video conference capability and enhanced health
services, learning and economic opportunities.
EORN was created by the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus (EOWC) and is
the province's largest rural broadband project. The $170-million
initiative is supported through substantial investment from federal,
provincial and local governments, along with private sector
contributions.
"Today's celebration demonstrates the success that can come from working
collaboratively with First Nations to achieve our shared goals of
improved high-speed access," said Mel Campbell, Chair of the EOWC.
"We are excited to be launching improved high-speed connections at these
important community hubs," said David Burton, Chair of EORN.
The Alderville access points connect to portions of new fibre-optic
cable that was laid by Bell Aliant and Bell through the Alderville
First Nation's traditional lands and treaty area. K-Net, a First
Nations' information technology firm, provided additional technical
support to connect the community to the fibre backbone. In addition to
these fibre connections, the Alderville First Nation will benefit from
improved high-speed wireless Internet access that is being built in
Northumberland County through the EORN's local access networks.
"Bell and Bell Aliant are very pleased to partner with the Alderville
First Nation and EORN to provide consumers in the Alderville area with
high-speed Internet access," said Jean-Clément Drolet, Vice-President,
Wireline Network for Bell. "As Canada's leaders in network investments,
we're proud to be playing a leading role in bringing Canada's best
broadband networks to underserved areas."
Funding from the Government of Canada comes from the Building Canada
Fund - Major Infrastructure Component, which targets larger, strategic
projects of national or regional significance.
For additional information about Canada's investments in infrastructure
and to stay up-to-date with Web feeds, visit infrastructure.gc.ca.
For more information on how Ontario is revitalizing its infrastructure,
visit ontario.ca/infrastructure.
Disponible en français
SOURCE: Eastern Ontario Regional Network