Members of Hastings County have received an update on the major project to improve cellular service in Eastern Ontario. during a special meeting with the Eastern Ontario Regional Network and Rogers company on Thursday.
CAO Jim Pine told council that Rogers is working right now to put 5G service on the 300 towers it owns in Eastern Ontario and will be building more.
During the COVID pandemic year, many people were working from home.
Pine says this has shown the gaps in not only regular broadband but in cellular service and mobile service, so people are quite anxious for the work to get underway and the improvements to start.
There will be 99% coverage across Eastern Ontario for voice calling on cellular.
Pine points out other municipalities such as Renfrew and the District of Muskoka are issuing contracts for the upgrades.
“People are starting to think about, you know, what are the, what’s the digital strategy for their communities. Which, of course, includes being connected but what other things should you be doing in the digital world to improve the health and welfare of the community.”
All the work must be completed by 2025.
