Important steps have been taken to improve connectivity (i.e. reliable access to broadband) in King.  In January there was the funding announcement of $1.68 million (Federal/Provincial 50/50) to support the plan by Vianet to deliver services to residents and businesses who are able to connect with the fiber which was laid along Jane last year.  And now there is the application for funding from the new Federal program called “Connect To Innovate” (CTI).  This application addresses gaps in connectivity across the Region; for King, specifically there is a proposed fiber route including Schomberg and Nobleton.   Our application is as robust as it is because of the download speed data points provided by many Township residents & businesses.  Report at 3/20 Council reviews the application for CTI.

As I said above “steps” have been taken; we are still not seeing action.  A couple weeks ago I asked the Business Development Manager, Brian McCullagh, when Vianet would begin to accept applications from residents and businesses.  He didn’t have firm answer but did review with me the prepatory work in process to enable making the connections.  Bottom line:  patience is required!

If you did provide download speeds to the Township you may be interested to look at the map in the report on Appendix 1.  All the little red dots are indicated as being “no service.”  What that means is that the reported speed was less than the minimum download speed of 5 Mbps and upload speed of 1 Mbps which is the level identified by Federal government as speed to be available.  Hence, since King has so much area not at required level we are eligible to apply.