CENGN said it will be partnering with the village of Ahmic Harbour, west of Algonquin Park, as part of its mission to bring high-performance broadband access to remote areas in Ontario.
The Kanata-based telecom consortium is working with Spectrum Telecom to construct three self-supporting network towers, which will enable faster upload and download speeds as well as provide superior signal strength and broader access.
“This project identifies key innovation approaches to offering significantly improved broadband coverage across large lakes,” said Jean-Charles Fahmy, president and CEO of CENGN. “By supporting and documenting Spectrum Telecom’s implementation of broadband internet services at Ahmic Lake, we will gain a strong blueprint to help address the business and technological challenges of similar communities in Northern Ontario and across the province.”
Exploring network deployment in rural areas is a key priority for CENGN, whose members include major enterprises such as Bell Canada, Nokia and Mitel as well as academic institutions and burgeoning startups. The consortium is actively working with the Ontario government on its Next Generation Network Program (NGNP), which looks to connect SMEs across the province with CENGN’s digital infrastructure to establish a “digital backbone for Ontario’s innovation-driven economy.”