As part of an ongoing project with Rogers Communications, in partnership with CENGN (Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks), the new Rural Ontario Residential Broadband program promises to deliver 5G high-performance Internet access to rural communities - including the Holland Marsh.
The program is expected to provide Internet access to approximately 480 homes in remote areas of the Marsh that are lacking wireless connection, providing speeds at 25/5 and 50/10 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 10 Mbps upload. This project is expected to cost approximately $1.84 million dollars, CENGN is providing half a million dollars towards the initiative
The Town of Bradford has been allocated $865,423 in funding through an application with ‘Vianet’ to install 5G towers in remote areas, including the Holland Marsh. But some residents have concerns about the installation and the placement of cellular towers.
Liz Gorzo, owner of Holland Marsh Food Market on Canal Road is one of them.
Gorzo and her family have lived and farmed on the land for decades and are well known for their farm stand and produce boxes.
She is concerned about the type of Internet being supplied – 5G technology – and wonders how the funding is being managed.
“No one is monitoring the funding and no one is truly connecting these rural areas [or] taking into consideration what’s best for that area,” says Gorzo. “(Telecoms) can’t just throw a 5G tower in the middle of [the Marsh] without proper research… I don’t want the health risk of 5G. I want fibre optics instead.”
Gorzo claims there are existing fibre optic cables already running underground along Day street, past Devald Road, and suggested that the cables be extended to areas that don’t have proper connection, instead of using 5G towers.
The cables weren't extended originally because there weren't enough houses in the area, leaving the houses at the end of the street only able to access Internet data from their cell phones.
"Why not run it to the end of the road?” she questions.
5G technology can transmit information at a rate of 25/5 and 50/10 MBPS (megabits per second) while fibre-optic speeds run at an impressive 1 GBPS (gigabit per second).
“If there’s a major (power) outage, fibre optics will continue to work at least a day [and] you’re less likely to have your Internet connection lost,” she notes, adding that fibre optics could save her over $300 a month.
Gorzo has been told that to install fibre optic cable herself, the cost would be over $70K - too much for her or her neighbours to split.
“They’re already using our land for fibre optics, and we can't get connected unless we pay tens of thousands of dollars,” she says.
She worries about the impact of 5G on residents' health, and Holland Marsh crops. “They have not tested what 5G will do around it, never mind the Marshland… What’s that going to do to our produce?”
The Town of BWG’s Office of Economic Development says the town does not approve the type of Internet service provided by the telecom companies, and can't force private companies to bring fibre to the home (FTTH).
“These projects (are) contingent on a number of factors,” says Michael Disano, manager of the Office of Economic Development.
Factors include "proximity to existing infrastructure, regulations, permitting, cost/benefit analysis, as well as their ability to resource and undertake the projects. The Municipality has no influence on these decisions,” he says, noting, "In an ideal world, we’d like fibre in all communities, but it’s up to the Telecoms to decide.”
Disano explains that the town has made every effort to identify under-serviced areas using an ICON map utility, as well as receiving feedback from area residents and businesses. When the town became a host community in January 2021 for expanded broadband Internet, areas such as Bond Head, Dissette Avenue, Artesian Industrial Parkway, and the Holland Marsh were marked as areas of interest for the project. Various telecommunication companies applied to take on the project.
To date, three of those applications were approved, with two pending.
“We will continue to explore opportunities to make local infrastructure improvements,” says Disano, noting that expanded gas, hydro, broadband, and cellular services would be funded through various channels and partnerships as outlined in the Economic Development COVID-19 Resiliency and Recovery Strategy.
“Leveraging dollars through Provincial and Federal funding programs help offset the capital costs for telecoms which make various projects feasible,” he says. “Applications being submitted by these companies would have to meet program guidelines and connect the highest number of homes and businesses for the least amount of money… Once again, the Municipality has no control over this element.”
The total project cost between CENGN and UBF (Universal Broadband Fund) is approximately $2.7M.
The telecoms will receive approximately $1.36M through government funding. Disano explains that if the municipality tried to finance a project like this on its own, it would result in a 4.9 percent property tax increase to Bradford West Gwillimbury residents.
“These projects combine to provide fibre connectivity and/or improved broadband and cell service to over 400 local residents and businesses in the very near future,” he adds.
Sharing Gorzo’s concerns is Marsh neighbor Nikki Glista, who learned that telecommunication companies have marked the edge of her property as a potential location for a new 5G cellular tower.
Glista lives on Devald Road at the end of Day Street. Although she fully supports advancing technology for the residents of the Holland Marsh, she says she feels "in the dark" on a community decision that could affect her.
“Why are we being notified after the fact? We have zero say. The three people that live on this road will not approve this, but how can we argue this?" she says.
"It’s not just a tower, (there is also) a ten by ten shed that will be erected to house equipment for the tower. The footprint of this project is not just a tower."
Glista admits that technically the proposed site for the tower is located on the town’s road allowance, approximately 20 feet from the edge of a ditch near the end of her property, but says the tower will be an “eye sore" adjacent to her farmed land.
"It’s right in the middle of a vegetable farm, right in the thick of the marsh," she says.
She also worries about access to the tower. “They will have to build a road or path on top of existing Marsh fields to get to the tower,” she says. “We’re already losing our fields to pot (marijuana) farms, and now towers!”
She adds, “I understand the interest in the 5G towers and support the improvement of technology to the marsh – everyone should have access to good, quality internet – but not in my backyard!”
Both Glista and Gorzo have contacted ward councillor Gary Lamb and Mayor Rob Keffer to let them know their concerns. Both women intend on making an appearance at the next town council meeting requesting more information, as the process develops.
With a large area and small population in the Marsh, “It is a challenge... There’s not a lot of support to sign a petition,” says Glista. “This tower – you can find an expert on either side of the argument, but no one knows exactly the ramifications to health.”
Disano explains that telecommunication towers must go through a public consultation process and that the town has only approved Rogers to 'investigate' the location at this point in time.
"Rogers, BWG, CENGN, the Holland Marsh Growers Association, and King Township have spent the last two months searching for suitable tower sites to provide the very best cellular and Internet service access to support the most residents and agri-businesses in the Holland Marsh. Approximately 16 – 20 sites have been evaluated and gone through extensive vetting by all parties to ensure the... criteria are met," he says.
The site identified was the only location in the Marsh that met all of the objectives, he notes; other potential tower sites were ruled out due to a lack of adequate space/land, insufficient road allowance, or a lack of municipal support for the tower site.
“At the end of the day we’re pulling at every string to make this happen and bring service to communities that are suffering,” concludes Disano.
But Glista has a different view.
“For years and years, me and my family have felt like secondary citizens because the Marsh is an afterthought, sometimes," says Glista. "I grew up here. It’s a jewel. It’s a special, special place - this soil is so rich and creates the most desired vegetables in Ontario… By developing on top of it, that’s another piece that’s lost, and that’s what I’m fighting for – the heart of Canada’s vegetable industry.”
Editor's Note: According to Health Canada, there are currently no known health risks from exposure to radiofrequency EMF from Wi-Fi devices in your home, in schools or other areas accessible to the public. For more information on the health effects of Wi-Fi visit here.
