Brooke Telecom is now offering high-speed internet service to more rural homes and businesses in Lambton County.
(Lambton County, ON) January 19, 2022 – SWIFT announced today that Brooke Telecom has begun to roll out fibre-to-the-home broadband service in the Township of Warwick to provide many more residents and businesses in Lambton County with access to fast, reliable high-speed internet.
“SWIFT is proud to partner with Brooke Telecom to drive greater connectivity throughout our region’s rural and underserved communities,” said Barry Field, Executive Director, SWIFT. “Together, and with the support of Lambton County, we are pleased to see first connections being made on this project and anticipate that as the buildout of the network continues to progress over the upcoming months many more homes and locations throughout the network coverage area will soon have access to fibre connectivity.”
As part of SWIFT’s Southwestern Ontario broadband expansion plan, Brooke Telecom was awarded funding to bring high-speed fibre-optic broadband service to 578 underserved rural homes and businesses within Lambton County located between the communities of Petrolia, Wyoming, Watford and Alvinston.
With work now well underway on the construction of the network infrastructure, residents located east of Watford along Confederation Line can now reap the benefits of high-speed internet as Brooke Telecom has begun to roll out service in this area. Residents located in the remaining underserved project area will continue to be brought online in a phased approach as the buildout of the fibre-optic network continues to progress.
“Our government has made access to high-speed internet a priority for rural Ontario, and we’re delivering on that commitment,” said Lisa Thompson, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of being connected to high-speed broadband. New connections like these will help families stay in touch, help people access supports they need, while providing a much-needed boost to the local economy. This is the type of critical infrastructure that benefits the entire community.”
“We are thrilled to see progress on the broadband expansion projects throughout the County,” said Lambton County Warden Kevin Marriott. “This project will provide broadband connectivity to many residents and businesses and will make a significant impact on increasing the availability of high-speed internet throughout the County of Lambton.”
“With the assistance of the SWIFT initiative we have been able to begin rolling out services in rural areas that have had limited connectivity. Without SWIFT’s assistance, these rural areas may not have been serviced for a very long time. These projects are critically important to the rural residents we serve,” said Geoff Greening, General Manager, Brooke Telecom.
Construction of the $6 million broadband infrastructure project, that will deploy more than 140 kilometres of fibre-optic cabling throughout Lambton County, is expected to be completed with service fully available to all residents located within the network’s coverage area by December 2022.
To learn more about Brooke Telecom’s high-speed internet services, please visit www.brooketel.coop or call 1.877.844.2251.
Additional Information:
Quick Facts:
- SWIFT, in partnership with the federal and provincial governments and private sector investors, has committed a combined investment of $17.6 million to deliver high-speed internet to 4,732 underserved homes and businesses throughout Lambton County and within Kettle and Stony Point First Nation.
- In total, SWIFT has awarded 96 contracts to support the expansion of broadband infrastructure throughout Southwestern Ontario to bring more than 63,000 homes and businesses across the region improved access to high-speed internet. Local projects are underway, with 52 projects in the construction phase and 12 projects completed.
About SWIFT
Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) is a non-profit regional broadband project initiated by the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus to subsidize the construction of high-speed broadband networks across Southwestern Ontario, Caledon and the Niagara Region.
The project was approved for funding up to $127.4 million under the New Building Canada Fund – Small Communities Fund (NBCF-SCF), a joint federal and provincial infrastructure funding program, and leverages additional funding from municipal partners and private sector investors to bring improve access to broadband services across the region.
Media Contact:
Melissa O’Brien
[email protected]
Manager, Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology
226.256.1640
