The proposed Durham broadband system will be built as an open access network that allows multiple service providers to use a common underlying fibre infrastructure.
That means it will not be directly supplied to households in the region, but via third parties such as ISPs (Internet Service Providers).
The network will be made available to ISPs, under commercial agreements, enabling them to accelerate the delivery of retail broadband services to those communities, said a document obtained by Durham Post.
‘It should be noted that it is the ISPs that will deliver broadband service to individual homes and businesses, not the Municipal Services Corporation (MSC),” the document explained.
This means that apart from the fee for the service for Durham Region MSC, the cost of the service will have the added levy of the commission charged by the ISPs.
It remains to be seen if the service will be cheaper than what is being currently provided across the region.
Case for Durham Broadband
In addition to connecting the region’s facilities, the network will bring high-speed fibre connectivity to underserved communities, the region said while making a case for Durham broadband.
The region pointed out the need for the network, saying:
Access to reliable Internet connectivity in underserved areas is critical for achieving most, if not all, of the other policy objectives the region has outlined in its Strategic Plan (2020-2024). These include environmental sustainability, quality of life, improving health outcomes of vulnerable populations, building an inclusive, age friendly, safe community, leverage Durham Region’s location, high-quality jobs, support agriculture, poverty reduction, value for money and quality of public service delivery.
Since the advent of the Covid 19 pandemic, broadband has become an essential service as it has been the means through which students have been accessing online education, individuals accessing healthcare, employees being able to work remotely, and businesses to service and reach their customers and suppliers.
The digital divide that exists in Durham Region and across Canada is too large for the private sector to solve on its own. The private sector has been primarily focused on enhancing broadband service availability in densely populated urban areas and communities, where acceptable rates of return can be more readily realized.
Both federal and provincial governments have recognized this issue and have launched several grant funding programs investing billions of dollars over the past number of years to help address the growing digital divide. These programs have begun to show success, especially where regional and municipal governments have gotten involved. Regional initiatives such as SWIFT,
and efforts in Peel Region and York Region have successfully leveraged existing network assets, expanded them, and made them available to private-sector internet service providers (ISPs) to support their communities.
200% growth projected
The needs of Durham are no different than other businesses. Demand for bandwidth continues to increase with the continued advances in efficiency and collaboration tools, remote video meeting applications and other internet accessed applications. It is forecasted that the region’s aggregate need for bandwidth at existing regional sites is expected to grow by 200+ per cent over the next five years.
The ability to meet the bandwidth needs in rural region sites is a concern as some of those sites currently rely on more traditional low-speed connectivity solutions at relatively high prices. This is no different from other businesses and residences in those areas as they are currently considered either unserved or underserved with respect to broadband access. Many of these areas and communities have no view or timeframe on when a stainable broadband solution will be available to meet current needs or the increased bandwidth needs in the not-so-distant future.
The region’s existing fibre network is currently used in urban areas for traffic signal control and monitoring as well as traffic camera surveillance. The expansion of this network into rural areas has begun with the with launch of the Uxbridge-Pickering backbone project. In addition, this backbone is planned to be further extended as part of senior government funding applications awards. Evolving into the network, this backbone is envisioned to grow to approximately 700km to serve the increasing need for more sites to be connected including depots, water and waste treatment plants, transit shelters, emergency and police facilities and provide the foundation for a more intelligent community.
This is good news and shows some forward thinking. The ease of installing and maintaining broadband comes with huge responsibility of keeping users safe from hackers. Please ensure that there is a fail safe initiated because the Russians and the Chinese are reading this and rubbing their hands together in joy not to mention the hacking crews in India. Progress comes with added responsibility. You open the door and expect a ton of breaches. Good luck finding trustworthy people to monitor the system.