Press release details

Montréal, January 29, 2020 – Cogeco Connexion, a subsidiary of Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSX:CCA), is proud to announce that it has been awarded $6.7 million by SWIFT to connect 3,650 homes and businesses to its networks in Wellington and Lambton counties in Ontario. The bidding process was initiated by the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT), a Non-profit regional broadband project initiated by the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus. Cogeco is pleased to have won the opportunity to make a significant investment in both counties.

Cogeco will invest additional $2.9 million dollars in Wellington County to deploy fibre along 112 kilometres of underserved roads, and connect 1,950 homes and business, by mid-2021. In addition, in Lambton County, Cogeco will also invest $2.7 million to connect 1,700 homes and business to its network by deploying fibre along more than 80 kilometres of underserved roads by the end of 2021.

“During the bidding process we had one objective: to connect residences, businesses, and public buildings, in underserved areas within these two counties to our best-in-class network technology. Cogeco Connexion is very proud to continue its market expansion in partnership with the SWIFT project, thereby adding to its network footprint to serve new customers” said Antoine Shiu, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Business Solutions.

Access to fast, unlimited, and reliable broadband has become a vital necessity for communities and businesses to compete locally, or participate in the global economy. “Today’s announcement is aligned with Cogeco's business objectives of expanding our services across Ontario and supports the Ontario and Canadian governments in their goal of connecting all Ontarians to high speed internet”, concluded Mr. Shiu.

Residents and businesses in Wellington and Lambton counties will benefit from having access to the full range of Cogeco’s services, including the most flexible television offering, and high-speed Internet services with speeds up to 1GB, as well as unlimited downloads with most packages.

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ABOUT COGECO CONNEXION

Cogeco Connexion regroups the Canadian cable operations of Cogeco Communications Inc. Cogeco Connexion is the second largest cable operator in Ontario and Québec in terms of the number of basic cable service customers served. It provides its residential and small business customers with Internet, video and telephony services through its two-way broadband cable networks. Cogeco Communications Inc. is a communications corporation and is the 8th largest hybrid fibre coaxial cable operator in North America operating in Canada under the Cogeco Connexion brand name in Québec and Ontario, and in the United States through its subsidiary Atlantic Broadband in 11 states along the East Coast, from Maine to Florida. Cogeco Communications Inc.’s subordinate voting shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: CCA).
 

INFORMATION:
Anastasia Unterner
Senior Manager, Communication and Public relations
Cogeco Connexion
514-241-7262
anastasia.unterner@cogeco.com

ABOUT SWIFT

Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) is a non-profit regional broadband project initiated by the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus to subsidize the construction of high-speed broadband networks across Southwestern Ontario, Caledon and the Niagara Region. The project was approved for funding up to $127.4 million under the New Building Canada Fund – Small Communities Fund (NBCF-SCF), a joint federal and provincial infrastructure funding program, and leverages additional funding from municipal partners and private sector investors to bring the total project investment to $209 million to improve access to broadband services across the region.

INFORMATION:
Melissa O’Brien
Manager, Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology
226.256.1640
melissa.obrien@swiftruralbroadband.ca