High-speed internet service is coming to more rural parts of Grey Highlands including a section east of Markdale. This latest initiative builds on the Rural Connections Broadband Program begun last year by the provincial government to extend the broadband network to large numbers of residents in Rural Ontario.

In the second phase, the province has provided one third of the $3 million project. The county will contribute $100,000 in cash or in kind while Everus will provide the remainder of the funding.

“It was quite a proud moment for us. It was a real nice thing to see a continuation of the relationship. Everus is very excited for the opportunity to bring more high-speed internet to more communities in Grey County. These rural residents have been patiently waiting for this technology to come along and soon it will be available” said Richard Cantin, President and CEO of Everus Communications (formerly High Speed FX) with offices in Waterloo and Holstein.

Construction on the latest phase will begin in February with the hopes of making the first connections by July. All areas of the project are to be reached by the end of the year.

The area to be served this time includes parts of Grey Highlands east of Markdale over to Lake Eugenia and beyond, also between Meaford and Owen Sound, and a strip along the boundary of Grey County between Springmount and Allenford and south to Hanover as well as northern parts of Georgian Bluffs in Hepworth region.

In the first project, the province kicked in one third of the $1.5 million, the municipalities and the telecommunications provider provided the rest.

The area covered in the first initiative included hard to service areas along Highways 6 and 10 in the south and central parts of the county.

Cantin said once the two phases of the initiative are complete about 65% of rural residents will have access to high-speed internet service.

One thing that Everus has learned from the first phase of the initiative is to keep the channels of communication open with residents, letting people know when the service will be available in their area.

At the end of December, a dispute between some Priceville residents over the location of a proposed tower on a community toboggan hill in the middle of the village was resolved. The company moved the tower slightly to the northeast. But while that satisfied those opposed to having the tower in the middle of the town because of perceived threats to health, moving it further away meant a few less people in the town would be able to receive the service, Cantin said.

Some residents who qualified for the service chose not to sign on because of additional costs required in cases to construct towers that are needed to bring service to their homes in hard to service areas. The cost of special towers can reach several thousand dollars depending on your height.

“If you’re in the bottom of a valley with a lot of trees around you might need an 80 or 100 ft tower. A tower that is 47 feet or less you don’t need to apply for a special permits but when you cross that threshold the cost goes up dramatically because then you need building permits and special drawings and then it starts getting very expensive.” Cantin said.

The recent economic down turn has resulted in some potential customers delaying their decision to sign up for the service. “We’re not seeing a lot of that” he said. The biggest challenge continues to be topography and geography.

“There are an awful lot of hills and an awful lot of vegetation. Neither one of those are friendly to our wireless technology. That increases the cost because you have to put more towers to reach more places” Cantin said.

Other challenges are created by the Niagara Escarpment which runs across the top of Owen Sound. It can play havoc with some of the broadcast signals. Some are waiting for the economy to rebound before making a commitment while other are holding out in hopes that fiber optic cable will come to their area.

“The reality is that fiber may be coming 10 years from now, but somebody is spreading the word that fiber is coming soon” said Cantin.

“Anybody who says that fiber is going to be into rural farm land in the next 10 years is going to be the exception and not the rule” Cantin said.