807 Network moves ahead.

$20-M broadband network to connect 27 communities in northwest, interconnect with northeastern centres

Construction of a $20-million regional broadband network for north western Ontario has begun, and officials with 807 Northwest Network say they are well on their way to bringing affordable, sustainable broadband service to individuals and organizations in at least 25 communities west of Thunder Bay.

807 Northwest Network is a not-for-profit organization of public- and private-sector partners who have come together with the common goal of ensuring there is a world-class broadband telecommunications infrastructure in northwestern Ontario.

Leaders of the group say they are trying to put northern Ontario on a level playing field with larger centres in Ontario, where excellent telecommunications structures is the norm.

807 Northwest Network was created to reduce the overall cost for equipment, maintenance and bandwidth prices of having similar infrastructure in the north.

Les Mayes, chair of 807 Northwest Network, says there is an endless list of benefits to creating such a system in northwestern Ontario. In particular, he points to telemedicine as an area where a sophisticated network will help with patient care and service delivery.

"The (Northwestern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre) has a regional oncology program," Mayes says.

"They are going to use the network to provide information to cancer patients and their goal is to have people in northwestern communities take their chemotherapy without coming to Thunder Bay."

The Cancer Centre is one of two facilities connected to the network first; the Rainy River District School Board is the other. And while Mayes says they do not have rates similar to southern Ontario yet, he says the price of being connected is "much more competitive."

The project is following a three-year roll-out schedule starting in 2000. Year 1 will see pieces of the network constructed in Atikokan, Dorion, Fort Frances, Nipigon, Red Rock, Thunder Bay, Jaffray Melick, Keewatin, Sioux Narrows and Upsula.

In Year two, 14 other communities will join the network, including Emo, Dryden, Terrace Bay, Ear Falls and Red Lake. Mine Centre and Manitouwadge will be the final two communities linked to the network in Year 3.

Twenty-seven communities will make up the network, including Thunder Bay where the system will be based.

"Ours is a story of trying to build a regional resource," Mayes says. "The success we're trying to enjoy is working together."

Once complete, 807 Northwest Network will interconnect and be interoperable with the proposed Northern Ontario Communications Network, which includes similar projects with hubs in Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Sudbury and Timmins.

The system will also integrate with other provincial and federal telecommunications initiatives in areas such as health and education. The $20-million project is being made possible through funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, which has approved nearly $5 million for the project, FedNor, and the network's vendors of record, lead by Thunder Bay Telephone.

Mayes says the 807 Northwest Network group is also discussing the possibility of creating a network loop to the east of Thunder Bay once the first project has been completed.