Bell has announced a major expansion of pure fibre Internet service to homes and businesses in urban and rural areas of Oshawa. As part of its accelerated capital investment in national next-generation network infrastructure, Bell has now reached more than 44,000 Oshawa locations with all-fibre broadband access. The expansion program will bring direct-fibre network connections to an additional 10,000 locations by the end of 2021.
The announcement brings Bell’s $100 million investment to deliver direct fibre network connections to approximately 60,000 homes and business locations in Oshawa close to completion.
“Bridging the digital divide is a priority for Bell as we advance how Canadians connect with each other and the world,” said Rizwan Jamal, President of Bell Residential and Small Business. “We’re proud to bring our pure fibre connections and world-leading Internet and TV services to households and commercial locations in Oshawa as part of this historic network acceleration program.”
“The City of Oshawa celebrates Bell’s announcement that will see all-fibre Internet access expanded, reaching 54,000 business and household Oshawa locations by the end of this year,” said Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter. “Bell’s $100 million investment in pure fibre Internet supports the mandate of the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Task Force and the full recovery of the local economy, and brings enhanced broadband access to even more Oshawa businesses and residents.”
Fully funded by Bell, this broadband expansion program will provide fast and high-capacity 100% fibre connections with Internet download speeds of up to 1.5 Gbps and access to leading Bell services such as Fibe TV. Earlier this year, Bell announced an additional investment of $1.7 billion in capital over the next 2 years to accelerate the rollout of its broadband fibre, 5G and rural networks and help drive Canada’s recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
This capital acceleration is in addition to the approximately $4 billion in capital Bell typically invests in broadband network infrastructure and expansion each year, and will significantly increase the connections in localities across Canada while creating additional employment as network construction activity speeds up.