City councillors have voted unanimously to endorse a proposal for the city to help fund the construction of an open access, ultra-high-speed fibre optic network in the city.
The plan, presented at Tuesday’s corporate services committee meeting, will see the city invest $700,000 from its Economic Development Reserve over three years toward the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) network project, a near-$300-million project aimed at addressing rural internet connectivity gaps.
“The manner in which we are identifying the target locations is predicated on economic development, and where that development could be most maximized,” said city IT director Mat Daley.
As part of SWIFT, London will act as one of several “network nodes” that can be built upon by internet providers.
“I’m really glad to see that we are looking at potentially getting involved here with this project,” said Coun. Jared Zaifman.
“As staff noted, London will be one of the major nodes for this project that attract follow-up investment from area providers,” he said.
The SWIFT project is funded by the federal, provincial and local governments, with London’s initial investment to be matched four-to-one by SWIFT.
If full city council votes to endorse SWIFT, the plan will see a fibre-optic network “backbone” built within city limits, to be completed by 2020.
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