Connecting communities: Bringing connectivity to the residents and businesses of Ramara in Simcoe County

• In partnership with Township of Ramara, Rogers to connect more than 800 homes and businesses, including the Township’s Fire Hall
• Once completed, residents and business owners will have access to a full suite of services including Rogers Ignite Internet™ with speeds of up to 1.5 gigabit per second and Rogers Ignite TV™ 
• To ensure connectivity throughout the community, two wireless towers will be installed to provide wireless home internet to more than 80 homes delivering reliable connectivity to residents that are harder to reach with a fibre-optic network

RAMARA, Ontario, Oct. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Having access to reliable, high-speed connectivity has never been more important to foster dynamic and inclusive communities. A recent study on the Angus Reid Forum shows the strong impact connectivity and technology has played for Canadian small businesses over the past 18 months with 85% of Canadian small businesses rating reliable connectivity as top priorityⁱ. With this in mind, Rogers today announced that it will be taking the next step in closing the digital divide by expanding its fibre network to the Township of Ramara in Simcoe County, Ontario.

“Connectivity plays a vital role in ensuring people can work, communicate with friends and family, gain education, access health care, and contribute meaningfully to their communities,” said Phil Hartling, Executive Vice President, Service Expansion, Rogers Communications. “We are pleased to see our collaboration with the Township of Ramara come to fruition in what will offer a range of options to deliver reliable connectivity and improve the daily lives of local residents and business owners.”

“Access to reliable, affordable high-speed Internet is one of the largest issues we deal with in the Township of Ramara,” said Ramara Township Mayor Basil Clarke. “This investment in affordable high-speed internet will help our residents connect with families, friends and workplaces and get us closer to our goal of expanding broadband services to all residents and businesses across our community. We’d like to also thank Rogers for its additional investment and for making it possible to expand high-speed broadband in Ramara.”

Through a partnership with the Township of Ramara, Rogers will invest over $4 million to expand its fibre network across 38 square kilometers of underserved areas, servicing more than 800 homes and businesses in Ramara. Construction, in collaboration with Ruralwave has already started, and is expected to be completed by mid-2022. The official project launch was marked by a joint photo-op with Ramara Mayor Basil Clarke, Rogers Director of Service Expansion, Marnie Miron and Ruralwave Director of Operations, Dan Risebrough Barnes. Earlier this month, Rogers enabled 10 of its cellular towers to provide wireless home internet service which offers a variety of plans and access to reliable internet to almost 1,000 homes and businesses in the area.

A PwC study commissioned by the company indicates that in 2020, Rogers investments and operations resulted in a total economic footprint in Ontario of $15.2 billion of output, including over 45,800 full-time jobs generated and supported. Rogers was recently recognized by Ookla^® as Canada’s most consistent national wireless and broadband provider, achieving this top ranking for the fifth quarter in a rowⁱⁱ. Rogers is committed to closing the digital divide by making the necessary investments. Since January 2020, in Ontario Rogers has:

• Announced a $188 million investment to expand our fibre network across Ottawa, Clarence-Rockland, North Grenville and Carleton Place.
• Announced a $140 million investment to expand our fibre network across Quinte region.
• Entered a $300 million partnership to expand wireless connectivity in rural and remote communities throughout eastern Ontario together with the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, and the Eastern Ontario Regional Network.
• In partnership with all levels of government, undertaken work with municipalities to deliver reliable connectivity to communities such as Carlsbad Springs, Simcoe County, Durham region and Holland Marsh.
• Announced a partnership with The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation to build fibre-to-the-home technology and improve connectivity for residents and businesses.
• Continued important work in partnership with Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) to connect more communities in Norfolk, Simcoe, Dufferin and in the Region of Waterloo.

About Rogers
Rogers is a proud Canadian company dedicated to making more possible for Canadians each and every day. Our founder, Ted Rogers, purchased his first radio station, CHFI, in 1960. We have grown to become a leading technology and media company that strives to provide the very best in wireless, residential, and media to Canadians and Canadian businesses. Our shares are publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RCI.A and RCI.B) and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RCI). If you want to find out more about us, visit about.rogers.com.

For further information: media@rci.rogers.com, 647-747-5118

ⁱ These are the findings of a survey conducted by Rogers Communications from September 24th to September 30th, 2021 with an online sample of 505 Canadian small business owners with businesses of 10-149 employees who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The survey was conducted in English and French.
ⁱⁱ Based on analysis by Ookla^® of Speedtest Intelligence^® data for Q3 2021, available at https://www.speedtest.net/global-index/canada?fixed#market-analysis