Wellington County is completely secured and awaiting the outcome of a restructuring attempt by a high speed Internet provider.
Everus Communications is interim receivership after some investors pulled back near the end of June, said Richard Contin, of Everus.
That incident occurred just weeks after Wellington County received a $1-million grant to help pay for high speed wireless Internet on June 19 at a ceremony in Alma. Revenue Minister and Perth-Wellington MPP John Wilkinson was on hand to present the cheque.
Contin said an investor decided it would no longer fund the company, but he said Everus is still operating.
“We are in the process of finding someone else [to invest],” he said.
The company’s financial affairs are now being overseen by receiver BDO Dunwoody, of Toronto.
Contin said in order to manage the restructuring process, the company was placed by Dunwoody into interim receivership. He stressed the word “interim” and noted the company is still operating regularly and is looking after its customers while it attempts to find another business model.
“Our number one priority is to make sure our customers are getting well served,” he said.
He added the demand for new services is still very strong, despite a return to an initial connection fee of $500. He figured that would limit new customers to around five per week, but, instead, the company cannot keep up with the demand.
Everus originated in Mount Forest and now has its office in Waterloo. It provides high speed wireless internet service to areas that are not reachable by cable or so remote that dial-up access by phone is too slow.
Its web site states, “Everus Communications supplies wireless internet services, IP telephony, and private network solutions over fixed wireless as well as digital subscriber line service over copper phone lines. Our network covers all or part of 11 counties in Southwestern Ontario. The Ontario counties served by Everus are Grey, Bruce, Huron, Perth, Wellington, Dufferin, Waterloo.
The company was founded in 2001 – as High-Speed FX – in Mount Forest, Ontario. It was built by rural business people, and designed specifically to bridge the gap in high-speed Internet and data communications services for rural businesses, residents, and communities by providing high speed wireless internet access.
Ross-Zuj said county council earlier this year chose Everus as its service provider, but it has not yet signed any formal agreements.
“There is a number of companies we can deal with,” she said.
Ross-Zuj added that county officials have met with the receiver and Everus officials and they are willing to give Everus some time to complete new financial arrangements.
Ross-Zuj said by September or mid-October, “We will have enough information to know if we go back for new requests for proposals or stay with Everus. We’ve given them time.”
She added that if Everus is unable to continue, the county still has time to find a new provider and still meet the requirements of the $1-million provincial grant.
“We have our grant guarantee and we want to proceed with the rural broadband,” the warden said.
The county plan with Everus Communications was that it would spend another $2-million on the project.
It has been providing internet service in Wellington County for five years, and already has 30 towers that serve 1,300 customers with high speed wireless internet. The plan was to use the grant money to erect another 25 to 37 towers he said.
The grant money is through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, which wants farmers and rural citizens to have the same capability for internet as a modern tool as the urban areas have.
Wilkinson said the idea is the enhanced service will turn “miles into milliseconds.”
Wilkinson said in June the project began several years ago when the provincial government realized that a large part of the province was without high speed internet. He showed the gathering a map that indicated how far the project has come in supply rural broadband in southwestern Ontario, and noted how important for business computer technology has become.
But, he said, it is important for children and others, as a learning and business tool, to have computer access.
“We’re not going to rest until every child, every family and every business has high speed internet.”
