In the Autumn of 2008, the County of Lennox and Addington asked residents to let us know if they could obtain high speed internet services in their homes and businesses.  The public response was overwhelming and it was determined that current broadband availability in the County is lacking, although there are high speed internet services available in some areas. 

Based on this information, at the regular monthly meeting held January 28th, 2009 County Council approved the submission of an application by the County to the Province’s Rural Connections Broadband Program.  This program will contribute millions of dollars over the next four years to improve high speed internet access to rural communities.

At the same meeting, Council endorsed The Eastern Ontario Regional Broadband Project as the number one regional economic development priority for the County of Lennox and Addington.  The objective of this project by the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus is to create a Regional Broadband Network for Eastern Ontario.  This regional network, sometimes referred to as a “broadband backbone”, will ensure that as the number of users grows and the application bandwidth grows, that the performance to the end user will not be diminished.

In June 2009, the County’s application to the Rural Connections Broadband Program was approved, with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs providing $621,793 to help expand broadband services in Lennox and Addington.   The County plans to partner with Barrett Xplore and Bell Aliant to build the infrastructure and contribute to the project.

Members of County Council and staff are pleased with the significant public interest in expanding broadband services in Lennox and Addington County and will continue to make residents aware of developments to improve high speed connectivity.