Broadband bucks announced

News Release

The Ontario government is enhancing economic development opportunities and quality of life in the west Rainy River area by investing in the expansion of the region’s broadband telecommunications capabilities, Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci announced today. 
“Our government is actively working to equip northern communities with the communications infrastructure needed to compete successfully in today’s economy,” Bartolucci said. “I am pleased that residents and businesses in more than a dozen communities in the west Rainy River District will have better electronic access to services and business opportunities.”
The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) is providing $909,958 to the Rainy River Future Development Corporation to oversee installation of four new microwave towers and upgrades to other components of the existing system. The new infrastructure will deliver high-speed broadband service to customers in the area west of Fort Frances to provide wireless Internet access that is currently unavailable. Other project partners include the communities, Thunder Bay Telephone and the Pwi-Di-Goo-Zing Ne-Yaa-Zhing Advisory Service, which provides advisory services and training to its seven First Nations members.
“This project is another success that can be attributed to the importance of developing partnerships to provide services that would not be possible as individual communities,” said the corporation’s Director Russ Fortier. “Continuing strategic alliances are key to our future.”
“An important part of building northern prosperity is to increase opportunities for northern youth, as well as for young people attracted by the region’s lifestyle advantages,” said Bartolucci, who is chair of the NOHFC. “High-speed Internet service in the North allows the innovative computer-based ventures that young entrepreneurs in particular excel at.”
This NOHFC project is part of the government’s Northern Prosperity Plan for building stronger northern communities. The Northern Prosperity Plan has four pillars: Strengthening the North and its Communities; Listening to and Serving Northerners Better; Competing Globally; and Providing Opportunities for All.