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A contract approved by North Bay City Council will not only improve connectivity between the City of North Bay's facilities but will open up possibilities for free public Wi-Fi access at various locations enjoyed by its citizens.
During its most recent regular meeting, Council awarded a $498,480 contract to NorthernTel Limited Partnership (operating as Ontera) for the provision of internet connectivity and private TLS (Transparent LAN Services) connectivity to various municipal locations for a period of five years. The City has an option to extend the agreement for an additional term of up to five years.
A staff report recommended an upgrade to the City’s services to meet current and future demand. The new agreement includes new connections from City Hall to the Water Treatment Plant and the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
"This is not just going to service City buildings but it will also service down near the marina," said Deputy Mayor Tanya Vrebosch prior to the vote. "Depending on the strength of the signal, we potentially could have the ability for people to have access to public Wi-Fi," in other municipal locations.
Earlier this year, free public Wi-Fi was made available at the City’s three arena facilities.
The City will also focus on expanding free public Wi-Fi to the municipal marina at the waterfront and then potentially at Lee Park and the Transit Terminal on Oak Street West, depending on logistics, confirms Communications Officer Gord Young.
"This makes it more accessible for people to have access to Wi-Fi in public spaces but it's also making sure all our public buildings have access to Wi-Fi. This supports tourism," added Vrebosch, "and, whether it's down at the waterfront or in one of our community centres, it's a good thing to help attract people but also bring us into 2022 where Wi-Fi is just a normal thing."
"It's great news," agreed Mayor Al McDonald.
A number of municipal facilities are connected to City Hall via a Transparent LAN Service which allows employees to access the City Hall network and computer
resources securely without the internet.
The Internet and TLS service agreement expired in 2021 and has since continued on a month-to-month basis. The report states "internet and TLS connections were not upgraded during the life of the 10-year agreement and do not meet current bandwidth requirements for the City’s applications, websites, and other operations servicing the employees and citizens of the City of North Bay.
"The new agreement allows the City to request and install new connections to other City locations as needed, locked in at current or lower rates. This agreement will also allow the City to request speed and performance upgrades of current connections during the life of the agreement as required."
