The Municipality of Clarington and Bell Canada have announced a major milestone in the rollout of Bell’s advanced broadband networks in Ontario’s growing Durham Region.
Bell has now reached more than 25,000 Clarington homes and businesses with all-fibre high-speed Internet connections, and 5,000 rural locations with Wireless Home Internet service.
Fully funded by Bell, the project will deliver direct fibre connections to approximately 5,000 more locations this year, including Bowmanville, Hampton, Kendal, Leskard, Newcastle and Orono and Wireless Home Internet coverage to another 1,300 rural locations, increasing Bell’s total broadband coverage to approximately 98% of Clarington residences and commercial locations.
“Bell has answered the call for greater connectivity for our residents. I want to thank them for the significant investments they have made and for the additional resources they will deploy throughout the rest of this year,” said Clarington Mayor Foster. “Bringing direct fibre access and expanded wireless to our communities will increase the quality of life for many of our residents. In 2021, access to reliable, high-speed broadband is a necessity and with 98% coverage of our Municipality, Clarington will be well on its way. I look forward to continuing to work with Bell and other ISPs for expanded coverage and options.”
With a positive investment climate reflecting federal support for infrastructure investment, Bell is investing up to an additional $1.7 billion in capital over the next 2 years to accelerate the rollouts of its next-generation fibre, Wireless Home Internet and mobile 5G networks. Supporting Canada’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and long-term leadership in broadband communications, the accelerated investment is in addition to the approximately $4 billion in capital that Bell has typically invested in broadband network infrastructure and expansion each year over the last decade.
“This project is a key part of Bell’s accelerated national network rollout, and we are proud to partner with Clarington to deliver all-fibre Internet connections and Wireless Home Internet service to residents and business owners throughout the community,” said Bell Senior Vice President Bruce Furlong. “We thank Mayor Foster and municipal staff for their help and cooperation in enabling a quick and efficient network rollout – at a time when it’s become clear that fast and reliable connections are more important than ever.”
The most advanced network technology of its kind, Bell fibre offers Internet consumer access speeds of up to 1.5 Gigabits per second. Bell’s innovative Wireless Home Internet technology is specifically designed to bring high-speed Internet access to rural and remote locations that can’t be served with fibre connections.