With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Town of Lincoln has recognized that internet connectivity and adequate broadband access have become essential for all residents and businesses across our community. It is safe to say that almost all residents and businesses in the Town currently have access to internet in one form or another.

However, the speed, quality, reliability, and cost of each connection can vary significantly.

Universal speeds of at least 50-10 Mbps (CRTC minimum standard) only exist in the main centres of Beamsville and Vineland.

The Town is welcoming infrastructure investments from telecommunications service providers and will be working closely with upper levels of government to help improve broadband access across our community.

Broadband Expansions

The Town is working with Internet Service Providers to expand broadband service in Lincoln. For businesses in all sectors, having adequate high-speed internet access is integral to helping deliver products and services.

NWIC Next Generation Wireless Network

On May 2, 2023, Niagara Wireless Internet Company (NWIC) announced the completion of their Next Generation Wireless Network infrastructure investment in Lincoln, serving the majority of Beamsville, Vineland and Jordan rural and urban residents. The new broadband technology offered by NWIC will have the ability to match the speed and performance of fibre-to-the-home services. In addition, NWIC has also launched IPTV services, to further allow residents to have more consumer choice in their telecommunications by choosing local.

The investment being made by NWIC to deploy their new Next Generation Wireless Network helps put the Town of Lincoln one step closer to closing the digital divide, while making sure every resident and business is connected to reliable broadband internet in the community, offering more choice for our residents.

For more information of NWIC's Next Generation Wireless Network, visit https://nwic.ca/get-connected/next-gen-wireless

Bell Fibre Expansion (2023-2024)

In March 2023, Bell announced the expansion of pure fibre internet service to homes and businesses in Lincoln. The expansion program will bring all-fibre broadband access to approximately 7,000 additional locations in the Town of Lincoln. Fully funded by Bell, this broadband expansion program will provide fast and high-capacity 100% fibre connections with Internet download and upload speeds of up to 3 Gbps and access to leading Bell services such as Fibe TV. This is a $17 million investment in our community to bring direct fibre network connections to locations throughout the Town of Lincoln over the next two years. Bell expects to start construction in early 2024.

For questions or concerns specifically regarding Bell's investment in Lincoln, please contact the following email addresses:

• Dave Zemesta - dave.zemsta@bell.ca
• Bell 905 Network Build - 905networkbuild@bell.ca

For general questions or concerns please call 310-Bell.

Background

The Economic Development team at the Town of Lincoln have a role in coordinating with public and private stakeholders, community members, and other Local Area Municipalities on fast-tracking efforts to achieve the recommended internet service speeds in Lincoln.

Actions taken to date include:

• Developing a detailed report for Council on the importance of Broadband and the available opportunities for the Town.
• Partnering with NWIC on the Improving Connectivity in Ontario program (ICON) that is now in Phase 2 of the application process.
• Working alongside Niagara Regional Broadband Network (NRBN) on developing detailed mapping and community engagement opportunities.
• Supporting applications and projects from local telecommunication providers for the recently released Universal Broadband Fund, as the private sector will be a key component in delivering these infrastructure projects.

Looking ahead:

Through coordination with public and private stakeholders, the Town can fast-track efforts to achieve the recommended internet service speeds by:

• Identifying funding and program opportunities for the Town to partner with local telecommunication providers (grants);
• Providing expedited permitting applications to those providers wishing to undertake infrastructure projects to increase broadband availability;
• Investigating the opportunities for incentives to reduce overall costs associated with large infrastructure projects;
• Including the laying of wires and fire-optics as standard practice when conducting road work in the right-of-way.

Thank you for your input!

Our survey is now closed. Thanks you to everyone who provided feedback on to help us better understand to what degree Lincoln residents and businesses currently use the internet and where adequate broadband is lacking, in an effort to bridge the connectivity gap across the Town.

Thanks also to the Niagara Regional Broadband Network (NRBN) for hosting the survey. Stay tuned for an update on results.