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Residential Broadband Program

Bringing High-Speed Connection to Underserved Communities

The CENGN Residential Broadband Program was completed in 2023. CENGN enabled innovative projects across Northern and Rural Ontario to provide solutions that improve connectivity and close the digital divide between remote communities and urban centres in Canada. The program resulted in flexible, lower-cost, higher-performance broadband access to residences within Rural Ontario communities.

Watch The Video Below to Learn More About CENGN’s Residential Broadband Program

How did a project help?

Only 46% of rural households and 24% of Indigenous communities have access to high-speed internet. Access to enhanced connectivity is widely accepted as having the most significant impact on a community’s success, both in terms of economic growth and public services.

The fact is rural and remote communities are underserved because of the unique barriers that limit the business case for network deployments. Most remote communities have a low-density population with different geographical landscapes (lakes, forestry, mountainous ranges, etc.) that can present specific problems for connectivity.

For each unique problem, an innovative solution is required to enable the deployment of better service that is cost-effective for both the internet service provider and the community. Through the collaboration of the community and service provider, reliable broadband services and connectivity can be implemented in targeted regions.

A CENGN broadband project saw the permanent deployment of high speed internet services that are specifically designed for that underserved residential region, enabling that community access to essential internet services.  These services developed new residential broadband ecosystems and promote new technology approaches that can significantly improve business cases or new business models.

Beyond benefitting the project’s host community, CENGN documented what made the project a success. We call this the blueprint, and the blueprint exists to share proven technical solutions with service providers, so they can cost-effectively roll out enhanced internet services in other communities facing similar broadband deployment barriers.

Read Our Residential Broadband Blueprints

What does it mean if my community was selected for a project?

If your community has been selected for a project, here is what to expect:

  1. There will be an announcement that your community was selected to act as the use case for a specific CENGN Broadband Project based on the community’s unique barrier to effective broadband deployment.
  2. An internet service provider will have been selected as a technical partner to provide enhanced internet service in your community. They will begin deployment of the network infrastructure in collaboration with your community’s representatives.
  3. Better service will be deployed in your community, but not necessarily every region/residence. To learn if your region/residence will receive new services, contact the internet service provider.

Who is involved in a CENGN Residential Broadband Project?

CENGN’s Residential Broadband Program is facilitated through the collaboration of different partners coming together to provide better connectivity to Rural, Northern and First Nation Communities.
PartnerRole
The Government of OntarioFunds the Next Generation Network Program (NGNP). As a part of the NGNP the CENGN Residential Broadband Program provides up to $500,000 of funding to each Broadband project.
CENGN• Organization entrusted to deliver NGNP and the CENGN Residential Broadband Program.
• Identifies a specific barrier to deploying connectivity in a rural or remote community and develops a problem statement which will act as the basis of the project.
• Through a call for participation, CENGN selects an appropriate community partner whose residents face the connectivity barriers set by the problem statement and the Technical Partner that will deploy and deliver broadband service.
• Upon completion of the project, CENGN obtains a well-tested, monitored and documented blueprint of the implementation plan and resulting internet services. This blueprint is shared with other communities needing a similar solution to better internet services.
Technical Partner (Internet Service Provider)• Selected by CENGN to provide the broadband solution to the problem statement.
• Delivers its internet services to the Community Partner’s residence.
• Provides all infrastructure equipment to install in the selected community.
• Provides labour and support to install the equipment and fully commission the technical solution in the community.
• Provides access to the infrastructure that will allow CENGN and the Community Partner to assess performance levels during the project.
Community Partner (Internet Service Provider)• Selected by CENGN as a community that fits as a proper business use case for the problem statement.
• Supports the deployment of broadband services to its residents.
• Works together with the technical partner to deploy innovative solutions in the community.
• Regions within the community receive long-term, cost-effective broadband services from the Technical Partner.

Rural High-speed Internet Blueprints

Detailed Reports on Our Residential Broadband Projects

The CENGN Residential Broadband Program works to close the digital gap facing Rural, Northern and Indigenous communities by enabling commercial broadband deployments that address the barriers to providing high-speed internet. Each project entails the deployment of an innovative technology solution that provides flexible, lower-cost, higher-performance residential broadband access for remote Ontario communities. CENGN compiles the details and learnings from these projects into blueprint documents as a resource for other communities facing similar barriers to broadband access.

Access the Residential Broadband Blueprints
For inquiries related to the
Residential Broadband Program please contact:
Broadband@cengn.ca