Northumberland County’s Broadband Project continues to make significant progress and represents a major improvement for residents of the Municipality of Port Hope. As part of this county-wide initiative, approximately 11,000 homes and businesses across mostly rural areas throughout Northumberland will be eligible to gain access to high-speed internet – including about 1,000 locations right here in Port Hope.
This project is a transformative step forward. In today’s world, reliable internet access is essential for education, business, healthcare, and staying connected. For many Port Hope residents who have been underserved or entirely unserved, this initiative marks the beginning of meaningful change. The Municipality has heard directly from residents, for many years, just how important broadband access is to their everyday lives. Without the direct investment from the Federal ($18.4 million) and Provincial ($45.8 million) governments, and Northumberland County ($700,000), this would not be possible.
Community response to the project has been overwhelmingly positive. Consent rates from Port Hope residents agreeing to have their home or business connected to access the network have far exceeded expectations, with over 65% of qualifying addresses in Port Hope already opting in – well above the typical 20% seen at this stage in similar projects. This strong engagement highlights just how important this initiative is to our community.
The project partners have acknowledged that approximately 390 locations in Port Hope will not be connected in this initial rollout. This has raised concerns from some in the community. These concerns are valid and understood. The current project was designed to maximize available funding to reach as many homes and businesses as possible, taking into account technical feasibility, population density, and cost.
Importantly, planning is already underway for a second phase of this initiative, with Northumberland County actively engaged in discussions with the province to expand connectivity to additional households in Port Hope and across Northumberland. Port Hope Mayor Olena Hankivsky has also been advocating directly with provincial officials to ensure that residents who were not included in the initial rollout are prioritized. The Mayor has been working diligently for weeks to explore all available avenues to accelerate broadband access for these underserved areas.
“Reliable internet access is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity,” states Mayor Hankivsky. “We are committed to ensuring that every Port Hope home and business has the tools needed to thrive in an increasingly connected world. We also appreciate the federal and provincial commitments to see every home provided access to broadband and stand by this important goal.”
For project information, including an interactive project map and FAQ’s, please visit //northumberland.ca/broadband.
If you are a Port Hope resident with questions about broadband services, please contact Axle Telecom at 1-844-702-2848 or visit AxleTelecom.ca Axle is the main contact for this project.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
