THUNDER BAY — Some Tbaytel customers just outside Thunder Bay may continue to experience occasional service disruptions as the utility works away at a major 5G upgrade.
"As these deployments occur and 5G is brought online, it could cause temporary disruptions," a Tbaytel spokeswoman said.
"However," she added, "our planning and execution ensures we minimize the impacts where possible."
The utility is in the process of implementing a $35.7-million wireless-service upgrade in Conmee, Oliver Paipoonge, O'Connor, Gillies, Neebing and Shuniah.
The Lakehead Regional Municipal Coalition Fibre project, which began just over two years ago, is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. About 2,700 customers are to be impacted.
Occasionally, social media posts in the affected communities have noted when their service has been down. Tbaytel provides a link that shows customers where the upgrade is in progress, and where it has so far been completed, such as in Rosslyn and the Slate River Valley.
Updates can be found at the following online link: tbaytel.net/fibre expansion.
Tbaytel customers in areas further out from Thunder Bay, such as One Island Lake and Hawkeye Lake, received high-speed internet by the end of 2021 following a separate $3.2-million upgrade.
Bell Canada is also upgrading its internet services in rural Thunder Bay, laying the groundwork for high-speed internet at 400 "locations" in Neebing by the end of 2025.
A Bell spokeswoman said earlier the Neebing upgrade is part of a $1.3-billion plan by the company to make fibre-optic technology available to 80,000 homes across the province over a three-year project period.
Meanwhile, Ontario's NDP has noted that Northern Ontario residents pay some of the highest rates in the world for internet services.
The party has cited a 2021 CRTC report, which said access to high-speed internet service was available to less than 60 per cent of rural Canadian households. In First Nations, the report said, the connection rate was only 33 per cent.
The Chronicle Journal / Local Journalism Initiative
