Last week, the Niagara Region hosted a community workshop designed to “examine the economic challenges facing rural communities without high-speed internet access, and brainstorm ways to move Niagara forward.”
Attendees were presented with information on the SWIFT (SouthWestern Integrated Fibre Technology) project, and given a chance to discuss ways that the program could be implanted in Niagara.
The SWIFT project is a plan to help make Southwestern Ontario “compete, connect, and keep pace in the digital world.”
It hopes to do this by connecting as many residents as possible to fibre networks that would provide 1G service, through public and private funding.
It is estimated that connecting every resident in Southwestern Ontario would be a $3-4 Billion endeavor. The SWIFT project will provide about $300 Million, of which Niagara is expected to receive between $35-40 million.
Improvements to infrastructure would be readily welcomed, according to those in attendance at the workshop. One resident described rural internet access as “an exercise in futility” while another commented that “we live in one of the most populated areas in Canada and we can’t get decent internet.”
Connectivity is becoming increasingly important to rural Canadians, and as more and more products and services become available online, the disparity between internet ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-nots’ grows. Many educational, economic, and social opportunities exist online, and cannot be accessed without proper connectivity. This necessarily limits the ability of slow-speed users to excel in these areas.
At the same time, rural activities like agriculture are becoming increasingly reliant on the ‘Internet of Things’, with modern farming technology frequently requiring internet access to send, store, process, and retrieve data more effectively. Rural hospitals, fire stations, and libraries are in the same predicament. Even small towns like Pelham are beginning to move services entirely online, which in the future may be problematic for residents without reliable internet access, or for those who have trouble navigating the web.
While funds are still pending, the SWIFT project hopes to begin construction in 2017.
