Loading...
01 - September 9, 2020 Connectivity Commitee Agenda Package CONNECTIVITY COMMITTEE ORIENTATION SESSION Wednesday, September 9, 2020 1:00 p.m. Meeting to be held electronically. Agenda 1.Introductions 2.Review of Terms and Conditions and Code ofConduct – Supervisor of Legislative Services and Community Relations 3.Connectivity Challenges in Elgin County – Manager of Information Technology 4.Internet Forum – General Manager of Economic Development 5.Review of Preliminary Resources – Connectivity Committee 6.Date of Next Meeting 7.Adjournment September 9, 2020 Orientation Connectivity Committee making authority. - Terms of Reference hief Administrative Officer/Clerk or Designate(s), General C Economic Development, Director of Financial Services (resource: – pertise, advice and information to County Council. scretion of the Chair. When possible consultation of the Committee will take ouncil. An Advisory Committee has no binding decision The Connectivity Committee is an Advisory Committee which reports to CThe role of the Committee is to provide recommendations, technical exThe term of appointed Members coincides with the term of County Council. Meetings will occur approximately once (1) a month and will be called at the diplace. Staff Supports: Manager County IT Department and GIS Technician), Township of Malahide IT. ••••• term - term and medium - Committee Mandate speed connectivity across the County; - Identify broadband and internet initiatives;Champion highInterface with and consult with stakeholders;Provide feedback and input into policy development, as required;Encourage investments that will provide higher connectivity speeds within Elgin County;Create an environment that facilitates open, competitive and innovative services and applications;Maximize the efficient investment of both public and private sector funding to improve connectivity throughout Elgin County.Develop tools to assist with attraction of broadband infrastructure investments.Work with local municipal partners, schools and health sector throughout Elgin to improve research, innovation and education capabilities in the County.Engage public and private sector stakeholders to investigate opportunities for partnerships that promote Broadband development and access for residents, businesses and institutions.Investigate infrastructure investment priorities.Review and refine specific goals, outcomes and timelines for shortpriorities. •••••••••••• Code of Conduct General DutiesConflict of InterestInteractions with the Public, Other Members and County StaffConfidential Information –––– As Members of the Connectivity Committee, you have received a copy of the Elgin County Code of Conduct. This orientation will focus on the particularly relevant sections of the Code:The Elgin County Council Code of Conduct is applicable to the Warden, Deputy Warden, All Members of Council, and Members of the public who have been appointed to Committees and Advisory Boards. •• he t of decisions and decision; with Council’s communicate the attitudes ee disagr Part 5: General Duties hey t and adequately even if ition as a Member; anner; ccurately onfidence in the position to which they have been elected or appointed. Abide by all applicable legislation, policies and procedures pertaining to theirposServe and be seen to serve their constituents in a conscientious and diligentmConduct their dealings with each other in ways that maintain publiccMembers will be open and honest, focus on issues rather than personalities,and avoid aggressive, offensive or abusive conduct;ACouncil Every Member shall:•••• n General Duties Continued imilar circumstances;nowledge and ability. Seek to advance the common good of Elgin County; Exercise care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent person would exercise isExercise his or her powers only for the purposes for which they were intended; and,Truly, faithfully and impartially exercise his or her office to the best of his or herk cordance with the following guiding principles: a)b)c)d) Conduct themselves at all Council and Committee Meetings with decorum;and,Exercise his or her power and discharge his or her official duties inac •• ng he Part 6: Conflict of Interest after the meeting. atter in the meeting (verbally at the meeting and in written form to the Clerk); disclose the general nature of the member's interest prior to any consideration of tmrefrain from participating in the discussion of the matter or in any vote on the matter;and,refrain from attempting to influence the voting on the matter or question, before, durior unicipal Conflict of Interest Act and complaints are subject to investigation i. ii.iii. ollowing steps whenever a member has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest Members have strict obligations to avoid conflicts of interest by taking thefin any matter that is before the Committee in a meeting where the member ispresent:Members shall be responsible for ensuring that they are familiar with theMby the Integrity Commissioner. •• and County Staff free from discrimination and harassment; and, ith respect and dignity and without abuse, bullying or intimidation; dministrative Officer or the appropriate Department Head. Members have a duty to treat members of the public, each other and staffwMembers have a duty to ensure that the County's work environment is safeandInquiries of Employees from Members should be directed to the ChiefA Part 8: Interactions with Public, Other Members ••• law. camera deliberations unless - - camera. - Part 10: Confidential Information onfidential Information or any aspect of the inounty that is relevant to matters before the Council or Committee. Beyond oncerning matters dealt with in hat is not available to the general public for any purpose other than his or Members shall hold in strict confidence all Confidential InformationcNo Member shall release, make public or in any way divulge any suchCexpressly authorized by Council or required ByNo Member shall use information gained in the execution of his or her officether official duties.Members are only entitled to Confidential Information in the possession of theCthis entitlement, Members have the same level of access to information asdoes any other citizen. •••• elected annually. - Election of a Chair ficial meeting. At this meeting a Chair will be elected from within the ommittee and will be re ntroducing Members to one another, providing background information on A Chair will be elected from the Members at the first official meeting of theCToday’s meeting is considered an Orientation Session for the purposes ofiCommittee Membership and providing details regarding the current state ofhighspeed internet service in Elgin County.At this Orientation Session, the Committee will agree on a date for the firstofMembership. Those interested in acting as Chair should put their namesforward at the next meeting and a vote will take place. ••• , 2020 th September 9 An Overview Connectivity Committee: Although ISPs may be awarded SWIFT contracts : access to backbone can be as much as $5,000 month Overview of Challenges makes business case more difficult Elgin has some of the most difficult terrain due to hills and Railway tracks: $10,000 annuallyHydro/telephone poles: $42 each annually –– Geography:valleys in the eastern part of the County and along the lake. In addition totrees, terrain has a significant impact on some technologiesISP’s ability to raise capital:those contracts require ISPs to be bonded and lenders are hesitant toprovide funds to smaller ISPs.Right of Ways:Cost of backbone •••• be responses to SWIFT RFPs. impacted : : requirement for open access can act as a disincentive to Overview of Challenges : significant number of locations within that cell with inferior levels of service. When maps are available via ISPs they are not always accurate.Maps are not granular enough. A cell may be classed as served, however, there may aIs the technology cable of meeting future bandwidth demands (future proof)?Services need to be affordable –––– CRTC regulationssome ISP’s build backbone. Has Service mapsScalability of technologyCosts of plans: •••• : return on capital investment is low in Overview of Challenges unding as an incentive to build infrastructure. Many areas that are able to sustain a return on investment are served.Areas where the business model does not provide for a return will require additionalf –– Areas of low population densitysparsely populated areas which is typical of farming communities/rural areas. • Overview of Challenges Source: performance.cira.ca (Canadian Internet Registry Authority) Fiber Fixed Wireless DSL Cable Satellite ISPs in Elgin LTE Yak Bell Shaw Rogers Primus Odynet Vmedia eastlink Xplornet Provider TekSavvy Execulink Packetworks UpLink Wireless Electronic Box (EBOX) y a n carr ca engths have vel ea only available ar 10 Mbps50 Mbps 1,000 Mbps 1 Mbps1 Mbps 50 Mbps - 500 Mbps 1-5- 1280 Mbps 250 Upload Speed Range 35 Mbps500 Mbps 1,000 Mbps - 25 Mbps25 Mbps - 100 Mbps 5- 1000 Mbps2560 Mpbs 10 250 Download Speed Range . So to ensure a reliable 5G signal, there needs to be a lot of 5G cell towers and Types of Services not even 2% of 4G's range ServiceDSLFixed WirelessSatelliteCableFiberLTE4G5G* ot of data much faster than 4G, but it also means a much shorter range. 4G wavelengths have a range of about 10 miles. 5G wa *The 5G standard uses millimeter waves, which are a lot shorter than the wavelengths 4G uses. The shorter wavelength means 5Gla range of about 1,000 feet, antennas everywhere, therefore, requires a sizeable capital investment. Trees can block 5G signals. 5G is currently in thisin London. ocratic, and cultural fabric cess to unlimited data Access to broadband internet services vital to Canada’s economic, social,demCritical for the vibrancy and success of rural communitiesCanadians should have at least 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload andacOnly 40.8% of rural communities achieve this standard 2016 CRTC: Canada’s Innovation Agenda •••• 50/10 Overview is achieved Current State - ernment to attract the interest of ISPs onomically viable for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to invest in 6072 properties are underserved olutions that can attract government grants provided that the he federal and provincial governments may be insufficient to achieve 50/10 Elgin currently has 2358 km comprising 20,535 properties, of which 1852 kmorThe 506 km of serviced areas represents the low hanging fruit that isecInvesting in the currently underserved areas will need financial support fromgovThe government proposed model of granting 2/3 of a project split betweentservice to the last mileVarious technology solutions, ranging from fibre to wireless, are all potentialsminimum standard ••••• the ed l - n n profit municipally - a non Current State -SWIFT om Marks is Elgin’s representative on the Board T served communities and rural areas across Southwestern Ontario. ecover $256,334 if we do not wish to continue to partner with SWIFT oadband expansion project created to improve internet connectivity i ntario. everage public funding to incent broadband expansion across Southwesternvolvement of this Committee and County Council SWIFT (Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology) is brunderOCouncillorElgin contributed $527,793 over five years to fund this initiative, with an opportunityto rThe next phase of the SWIFT project will be Phase 3, of which Elgin will be a partOpportunity to leverage ISP interest in bidding on Elgin SWIFT projects through i It was established by the Western Ontario Warden’s Caucus to strategicallyl •••••• Current State -COVID-19 HealthcareEducationCivic engagementCommerce etc. ommunities –––– Reinforced the deficiencies that exist in broadband infrastructure in ruralcRural residents require access to high speed internet •• Partnership (PPP) - Strategic Options ivate Pr - Augment market demand incentivesEstablish a Public ovided by the SWIFT project –– Maintaining status quo, leave in the hands of the private sectorPartner with Internet Service Providers (ISPs)Enhance engineering and construction guidelinesEstablish a network utilityBecome a retail service providerAdded focus by Elgin’s Connectivity Committee can leverage the resourcespr •••••• irkham K Rural Internet Forum anning of next steps Focus: A Made in Elgin Solution2 Hour Virtual EventFacilitated by Jennifer Goal is to further inform the Committee to assist it in itspl •••• Draft Agenda Challenges/issues1.2.3.4. ––––– Introduction (5 min)Overview (10)2 Best practices (community representatives) (10 min each)SWIFT (Barry) (15 min)ISPs (15 min each)Next steps/actions for Committee (10 min) Rural Internet Forum: A Made in Elgin Solution •••••• Discussion Rural Internet Forum: A Made in Elgin Solution •