The need for better internet service was identified as a top priority in the Rideau Lakes Business Retention and Expansion (BR+E) study, and a recommendation outlined in the Rideau Lakes Strategic Plan to support Village Renewal. In an effort to have villages connected to 1GB fibre by the end of 2022, the Township’s 3-year roll-out of 1Gbs Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) between 2020 and 2022 resulted in 1400 homes in Rideau Lakes gaining FTTH, 1200 homes received 50/10Mbs fixed wireless and many more have access to improved fixed wireless reliability/capacity through a fibre backhaul. These actions have established Rideau Lakes as a rural leader in the provision of fibre.
Internet services were extended into the Jones Falls, Morton, Bush Rd, Cove Rd, Sheldon’s Landing and Big Rideau Lake Road areas. Further, three existing wireless towers in the Jones Falls area were upgraded allowing for 50/10Mbps wireless service. This means an additional 351 homes/business received fibre access in 2022 and 998 homes/businesses gain access to 50/10 wireless service. This translates to approximately 1/5th of homes in Rideau Lakes having access to 1Gbs FTTH and 1/5th having access to 50/10Mbs wireless service. Nearly half of all properties in Rideau Lakes now have access to next generation internet.
Since 2020, 386 people have tested the strength of their internet using the national test page at https://performance.cira.ca. From this small sample of data, Rideau Lakes shows a Median Download speed of 9.7Mbps, and Upload of 1.05 Mbps. At the Municipal Office in Chantry, the Download Speed is 51 and the Upload Speed is 62 Mbps.
The Rideau Lakes Broadband Project was awarded funding through the Government of Canada’s Universal Broadband Fund’s (UBF) Rapid Response Stream in 2019 and provincial investment through the Improving Connectivity for Ontario (ICON) program in 2021, which directly supported the Township in bringing internet connectivity to our community. With the UBF and ICON funding, the Township leveraged its initial three-year $800,000 partnership investment into a nearly $6 million dollar build that serves the community, its residents and businesses for decades to come.
Internet Connectivity map courtesy of WTC Communications (2024)
Internet Connectivity map detail courtesy of WTC Communications (2024)
Details are available at the following link: Rideau Lakes Broadband Project - Final Report
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