The City of Beaumont is currently in negotiations to host an ultra high speed broadband network that would connect all homes and businesses in the community. 

If an agreement is approved by council, the city would partner with a consortium including leading global technology firms Digital Infrastructure Group and Jacobs, for the construction of the network over the next two years.

Once built, residents will have the opportunity to sign with a service provider for high speed internet to their home or business. The project also positions the city as a hub for tech innovation and knowledge-based industry and will serve to attract businesses and investment to Beaumont.

Network details

Jacobs will lead the project design and delivery, Digital Infrastructure Group is financing the project, and the City of Beaumont is providing access to public rights-of-way for the fibre. Digital Infrastructure Group’s team would also maintain the network for a set period.

The network will consist of the highest speed broadband network available commercially in the world, with the capacity to transfer data at 10 Gigabits per second. This would be a hundred-fold increase from the current average download speed in Canada of less than 100 megabits per second.

Once construction starts, the first customers are expected to be hooked up within 12 months, with full project completion within 24 months.

Next steps

The City of Beaumont continues to negotiate agreement details with the consortium and is conducting due diligence and legal reviews of contract terms. As part of its diligence, the city issued a Request for Proposals in April 2021 to assess the marketplace for other proponents with the ability to finance, design, build, own, operate and maintain an open-access fibre optic network. The RFP closed June 4, 2021, and the city is assessing the submissions before bringing an agreement forward to council for deliberation and a vote during a public meeting.

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