The Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN) issued a request for proposals to source companies wishing to help expand cellular infrastructure in rural communities.

The goal of the project is to provide cellular service to 99 percent of the communities in Eastern Ontario where there are homes, businesses and major roads with cell calling service. It will also further expand cell data coverage and capacity to support the use of typical smartphone apps and streaming video.

The project is expected to create more than 3,000 full-time equivalent jobs and spur $420 million in new business revenue over 10 years. It will also improve public safety by eliminating cell-phone dead zones.

Funding for the public-private partnership project is worth $213 million. The federal and provincial governments have each contributed $71 million to that funding. Members of the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus and most municipalities within the Eastern Ontario Mayors' Caucus have contributed to the $10-million share required by municipal governments. Mobile carriers will provide the remainder of the funding.

"EORN has been planning this work for several years and we are pleased to finally launch the bidding process – an important first step in building the project,” said EORN chair J. Murray Jones. “We are looking to build on the investment we've already made in broadband infrastructure with partners who will deliver value and quality in closing the gap in mobile services."

Rural and remote communities in Canada are chronically underserved by broadband technology. Carriers view the return on investment in these regions to be too low to build facilities to adequately serve these communities.

In the regions served by EORN, for example, 40 percent of the area does not have access services that allow streaming high-definition video, 20 percent does not have access to standard definition video, typical mobile app use and video app calling, and 10 percent has no voice calling service. A lack of such services greatly impedes the abilities of residents and businesses in these communities to access critical online services.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) recently designated mobile and fixed broadband as basic services for all Canadians. The EORN public-private partnership aims reduce carriers' infrastructure-construction costs, thereby creating a stronger business case to improve services and meet the CRTC's basic services goals.

"The demand for mobile broadband is growing exponentially, but our region is deeply lacking the needed infrastructure to keep up,” said Andy Latham, chair of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, the group that oversees EORN. “Improved cell service has been the EOWC's top priority and it is gratifying to see this RFP issued. Ultimately, we want to improve economic growth, quality of life and public safety for our communities."

The EORN initiative applies to a geographic area that includes 13 members of the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus (11 regional county municipalities and two single-tier municipalities), and nine separated municipalities. Among them are the counties of Frontenac, Haliburton and Hastings, as well as the municipalities of Kingston, Belleville and Cornwall.

Once the PPP partner is selected, construction of the network facilities could take as long as four years to complete.