Warden of the County of Simcoe Gerry Marshall, Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope and George Bridge Warden of Wellington County hold a news conference after the annual general meeting of the Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus in Chatham-Kent, February 12, 2016 (Photo by Maureen Revait) 
Warden of the County of Simcoe Gerry Marshall, Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope and George Bridge Warden of Wellington County hold a news conference after the annual general meeting of the Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus in Chatham-Kent, February 12, 2016 (Photo by Maureen Revait)
Chatham

SWIFT Funding Still Needed

The Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus is still working to secure upper level government funding to expand access to ultra-high speed broadband internet.

The SWIFT network aims to make fibre-based internet more affordable and accessible for business and residents in rural Ontario to connect to.

Warden of the County of Simcoe Gerry Marshall says he is very confident the government will agree to a shared funding model.

"We've had good conversations with the province of Ontario and the Ministry of Infrastructure there, and now the conversation is turning to the federal level. Part of the delay was that we had to wait for the election to occur," says Marshall.

The caucus has instructed its 15 members to approach their councils and begin planning where and how the network would be built in their communities.

"I'm very confident. I think it makes sense, it makes sense politically, it makes sense in business environments, it makes sense to our citizens," says Marshall.

The network would cost $294-million to cover all of southwestern Ontario. The goal is to get "urban quality internet" to rural communities by 2023.

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