Fibre Optic Network on its way to northeastern Ontario

Ontera News Release

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Timmins – Ontera, Ontario Northland’s telecommunication division announces that it is in the final stages of completing a world class high capacity fibre optic network that will provide residents, businesses and institutions of northeastern Ontario with enhanced telecommunications services and reliability. When complete, this ring will span 1000 kilometres and feature a minimum 10 gig capacity that will allow for many years of scalable growth and expanded capacity.

The new network, which is physically configured in the shape of a ring, will protect communities and users on it from the kinds of outages that many northern communities have experienced over the years. In the case of a fibre cut, traffic is instantly re-routed in the opposite direction without interruption to the users.
Ontera’s network is an open carrier model meaning that any carrier can utilize the infrastructure and provide services on a very secure fibre backbone to the region.

“The new ring will be an immense benefit to our community. It provides the ability for critical services to have an instantaneous recovery route. It also positions our community on a massive fibre pipeline that can fuel opportunities such as data centres and connect us with medical specialists without having to leave the community,” says Tom Laughren, Mayor of Timmins.

“Access to a high bandwidth, high capacity telecommunications network is a key factor in leveling the playing field between developed and rural areas. Ontera is bringing choice to the north and this fuels cost effective innovation and opportunity,” said Paul Goulet, Chief Operating Office for Ontario Northland and Vice President of Ontera.

“The ring is part of a self-sustaining business model for Ontera that is designed to encourage economic growth and enhance services,” continues Paul Goulet. “Equally important, it is a green business model that has a minimal footprint on the environment and has a huge multiplier effect on business and quality of life as soon as it is implemented.”

“The ring was engineered in-house at Ontera. It is a multi-million dollar project financed entirely by the private sector and will be owned, operated and supported by Ontera,” said Amedeo Bernardi, Ontera’s Director of Project Management and Strategy. “The new northern network will ring North Bay, Timmins, Foleyet, Chapleau and Sudbury, and will be connected upon completion to a similar ring in the south that connects Ontera’s networks to Toronto.”

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