WELLINGTON COUNTY – The installation of 32 wi-fi access points in county-owned social and affordable housing buildings to provide free internet access is complete.
Originally brought to the social services committee last year, the request to outfit the county’s 17 housing buildings was approved by council in June with connections coming online at the end of last year.
As COVID restrictions ease, residents from a total of 1,009 units can now tap into a reliable internet connection within the common areas of buildings located throughout the county and in Guelph.
Download speeds at all buildings are a minimum of 100 Mbps with some achieving up to 500 Mbps.
Upload speeds are 20 Mbps at all locations.
“Tenants are now able to connect to the internet to access services and supports, return emails, and connect with their friends and families at no additional cost,” states an April 20 report to the county’s social services committee.
The installation of all the access points was initially pegged at $93,886 with an annual cost of $28,500 to cover upgrades and ongoing support.
County housing director Mark Poste stated in an email to the Advertiser the true costs came in under budget for both setup and annual support.
Installation, configuration, hardware and licensing costs came in at $66,000 – $27,886 under budget. And ongoing costs will ring in at $18,000 annually – $10,500 under budget.
The access points do not provide a dedicated internet connection to each individual unit in a building, but tenants do have options available such as low-cost internet plans and, for Ontario Works recipients, devices and internet hotspots can be loaned long-term.
The Wellington County Library also has internet hotspots, funded by the Ontario Libraries Capacity Fund, available to library card holders for week-long loans.
Loans of iPads are also available from the library, and Upper Grand District School Board students have access to Chromebooks.
The April 20 report noted network coverage gaps present a barrier to accessing affordable plans in rural communities.
Poste said county staff are exploring solutions to rural broadband access.
