A $294-million fiber optic network is proposed to cover all of southwestern Ontario, paid for with tax dollars.
The western wardens caucus is pushing for the network, which would cost Essex County $1.1-million if upper levels of government each chip in a third of the cost.
The proposal is called SWIFT, and project lead Jeff Hogan told county council it would make high-speed Internet more reliable and cheaper for the consumer. "The modern day economy really relies on this fiber optic technology. We need to have an open access system that allows competition , so the end user has multiple companies to choose from."
The network would take five years to build. A funding application is already submitted to the federal and provincial governments.