By: Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News
A Ward 2 South Kent Councillor is going to bat for Ridgetown area residents who want faster internet service.
Anthony Ceccacci entered a notice of motion at the March 9 Chatham-Kent Council meeting, directing Mayor Darrin Canniff to contact local internet providers who have access to the fibre infrastructure in the area and ask them to consider adding Ridgetown to their capital plans to bring high-speed internet to local residents and businesses as soon as feasible.
“I had a gentleman from Ridgetown, who has pretty significant experience in aspects of internet service, bring it to my attention how Ridgetown is underserved from a fibre perspective,” Ceccacci said.
Ceccacci shared the individual’s concerns with municipal staff to obtain more information on the situation.
The municipality has been working with SWIFT, a regional broadband expansion project initiated by the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus to improve access to high-speed internet services across Southwestern Ontario.SWIFT completed several high-speed broadband projects in Chatham-Kent in 2024, as a $19.1-million investment expanded high-speed internet services to more than 4,827 previously underserved homes and businesses.
However, there has not been a significant investment in fibre infrastructure in the Ridgetown community.
“The Federal and Provincial governments have committed to getting 50/10 internet (speed) classification to 99 per cent of households across Canada by 2028,” Ceccacci said.
Ridgetown, however, is not receiving upper levels of assistance because cable infrastructure is not fully available throughout town, Ceccacci said.
“Properties are not able to obtain service despite being close to existing infrastructure, as DSL remains the only viable option,” he said, as DSL uses phone lines to connect customers to the internet. “In these cases, the classification of the community as served doesn’t accurately represent the real connectivity challenge that businesses and residents are experiencing.”
Ceccacci’s motion, if passed at the March 23 meeting, will direct the mayor to write to Teksavvy, Bell and Cogaco – three local fibre internet providers – to consider bringing the service to Ridgetown.
The companies will be directed to report back to Council on their intentions to provide fibre service to Ridgetown, along with a timeline for when upgrades will begin.
Ceccacci said he talked to Morena McDonald before the March 9 Council meeting, but was unable to speak with John Wright to give the Ward 3 Councillors a heads up about his notice of motion.
