ADnet may be getting a little closer to its goal of providing broadband Internet access to remote areas of Algoma District.
Wilf Lefresne, executive director of the Algoma District Community Network (AD-net) says the organization has applied for nearly $100,000 in second-phase funding from the Connect Ontario: Broadband Regional Access (COBRA) program of the Ontario Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation (MEOI).
“It is a multi-phase program in that, in the first phase, organizations apply by letter of intent to participate, followed in the second phase by developing business plan complete with technical and business solutions,” he says.
“The third step is to apply for capital funding at the 50 per cent level to implement the program.”
The second phase funding will provide up to $100,000 for development of the business plan, he says.
“We are just in the process of submitting the application for $94,000 in assistance (from COBRA). It’s a $140,000-program, which ADnet will be donating the remainder,” he says.
He says the October provincial election halted several government programs temporarily, but Lefresne says he does not anticipate any difficulty in getting the funding from the new administration of Premier-elect Dalton McGuinty.
“We are a strong believer in the role broadband Internet will play in the economic development of the North...and
it’s not just a matter of putting the network in. We also go around and inform people what it’s about and what
some of the opportunities are,” he says.
The network, once developed, has the potential to provide 44,000 people in the Algoma district access to
broadband Internet.
