SMLCA Broadband Initiative Committee Final Report

The Broadband Initiative Committee (BIC), formed at the fall 2021 AGM of the Six Mile Lake Cottagers Association (SMLCA), is pleased to congratulate Rogers for the best response to SMLCA’s Request for Information (RFI), issued in March, 2022.

The RFI was distributed to 13 companies.  The goal of the RFI was to ​​identify a supplier to provide reliable, consistent, minimally obtrusive, fast Internet connectivity for all 850 residences on the lake.  Since our interim update in June 2022, BIC has worked hard to firm up the following details.

While no respondent delivered on 100% of the committee’s stated objectives, the BIC is pleased to announce results beyond its original expectations.  Rogers delivered by far the most complete and appealing response to the RFI, and subsequently communicated more details about their plans in several presentations by their senior management. Rogers will offer Fibre-To-The-Home Internet to many rural areas in the Muskoka region by 2025.  They have committed to prioritize delivery of the service to the SML community. Rogers has confirmed that SMLCA/BIC’s proactive initiative highlighted the appetite of the Six Mile Lake community for greatly improved internet service and was instrumental in this prioritization.

Rogers will service as many road access underserved homes (homes or cottages) as possible with Fibre-To-The-Home capable of delivering symmetrical download and upload speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps.  Rogers will continue to serve island properties with their existing cellular-based data service rather than through Fibre-To-The-Home.  This cellular-based service could see some improvement with the addition of their planned Hidden Glen tower (to the west of Highway 400), and because some existing Rogers customers may migrate to other services.  This tower will not affect the aesthetic and environmental qualities of Six Mile Lake.

The committee has assessed that Rogers has proposed the best long-term solution to deliver world-class Internet to the majority of Six Mile Lake.  Rogers has advised us to expect that it will take a year or two to complete installation.  The SMLCA BIC has formally advocated with the Township of Georgian Bay to support expedited permitting for the required infrastructure.

SMLCA would like to express appreciation to the committee members, who represent a diversity of backgrounds and different geographical areas on the lake.  Thanks to:

Craig Cameron (Co-chair)

Gord Vandevalk (Co-chair)

Lib Gibson

Rick Jocsak

Erik Luksep

Bob McKeen

Doug Osborne