Conference hears Ontario connectivity likely a year away

TORONTO–The Ontario government is unlikely to achieve its goal of connecting all Ontarians to high-speed broadband by the end of the year, a recent conference was told. The Fiber Broadband Association held a one-day regional fibre connect meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 19. The last panel the 300 delegates heard from was one on fibre economics, featuring three industry insiders. (The panel was moderated by this reporter, Paul Park.) Joe Hickey, president of PomeGran Inc., a network carrier, expressed doubt that the Ontario target could be reached. He pointed to the government’s recent move to tear up a contract with Space Exploration Technologies Inc.’s Starlink service. “Given the state of development and the recent cancellation of the Starlink contract, that date will not happen,” he stated flatly. He speculated that a new date of Dec. 31, 2026 will be unveiled shortly. The Wire Report has reached out to the provincial government for comment. READ MORE: - Ontario government plan to connect everyone to high-speed internet by end of 2025 might be too lofty a goal: CRRBC panel - Ontario decision to cancel Starlink may not delay full connectivity The panel touched on a broad range of topics. The three participants were asked about the federal government’s recent decision not to overturn a CRTC ruling opening the wholesale fibre access regime to all players, whether they are incumbents or not. Most telecoms, including giants like BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications Inc., oppose the move, with the notable exception of Telus Corp. Hickey was not surprised by the western company’s reaction. “They’re opening up a fibre network of a couple of million customers and they’re going after fibre and cable networks with Rogers and Bell that’s about 13 million customers,” he offered. “Obviously they have a pretty big upside in terms of moving east.” Fellow panelist Sachin Jayapalan, a partner in the deals practice at PwC Canada, wondered how smaller players will be affected by the ruling. “How do you encourage the investment while generating the return?,” he asked. Hickey said Bell’s retail rate is only one dollar above its wholesale price. That makes it difficult for competitors to turn a profit with such narrow margins. Supply chain difficulties are also a challenge for fibre firms, the trio agreed. Brett Allen, senior director of business development for Wesco Inc., a Portland, Oregon-based maintenance and repair company, foresees a boom in development – but one that will face hurdles. “The demand for product in general has been skyrocketing and the data centres are a big, big driver of that,” he asserted. But the series of tariffs imposed worldwide by the Trump administration raise doubt among industry players, he added. “There’s the tariffs situation which adds more complexity and uncertainty to the whole process as well,” he opined. Jayapalan noted hesitancy among firms. “We’re definitely seeing a lot of companies looking at their capabilities and trying to decide which areas to focus on,” he stated. Hickey added the security requirements imposed by the federal government on network providers when it comes to buying equipment. A number of foreign companies, most notably Huawei Ltd., have been banned from selling their gear to Canadian firms. PomeGran got around this by purchasing from Nokia Corp. All three panelists had much to say about the mergers and acquisitions aspect of the sector. Jayapalan noted there have been many large deals in the past while, including Rogers’ takeover of Shaw Communications and Bell’s purchase of the American fibre firm Ziply. “There's a lot of interest in building out networks,” he said, adding that pension funds are eager to invest in fibre due to the good return on investment. The other two were able to use personal examples of M&A strategies to foment growth. Hickey mentioned seven companies, including Rock Networks – which he founded, being taken over by PomeGran. “We’ve grown the company through acquisitions, now we’re looking at a mix of future acquisitions as well as organic growth,” he stated. He said PomeGran expects to have 100,000 service passes in its footprint by next year and aims to be at 300,000 passed within four years. Allen’s employer also pursued an M&A approach to expansion. “Wesco over the last five years or so has grown quite a bit organically, as well as by acquisition,” he reported. The session concluded with Hickey talking about the difficulties of dealing with Ontario power utility Hydro One for pole access. The electric company can be slow in granting approval for fibre firms to attach their cables to Hydro One equipment, he reported. “Hydro One has fundamentally changed their approach to their marketing,” he said. “They are getting better. Is it as good as the original timelines that the Ontario government established? The answer is no.” ppark@thewirereport.ca

Conference hears Ontario connectivity likely a year away

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By Paul Park
| August 22, 2025

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