PomeGran Provides Northern Ontario Gigabit Fibre Project Progress Update
On Friday, April 25, 2025, PomeGran hosted its second community webinar to provide key updates on the Northern Ontario Gigabit Fibre Project, highlighting the transition from design into active construction across several areas of the region.
Kalai Kalaichelvan, Chairman and CEO of PomeGran, opened the webinar by reinforcing the company’s commitment to delivering transformative connectivity to rural and Indigenous communities. Joe Hickey, President of PomeGran and ROCK Networks, outlined the significant construction and operational milestones reached since the last update.
Ashraf Youssef, Director of Program Management, shared notable project highlights, including:
- 100% survey and detailed design completion
- 62% permit submission rate, with 37% of permits approved
- Active installation of OLT fibre hubs in Johnson Township, Whitefish (Lively), Espanola, and more
- Deployment of the project’s core network infrastructure at 151 Front Street West, Toronto
The project will deliver gigabit-speed Internet to over 18,600 underserved households across more than 43 communities and 50,000 square kilometres, including service to 13 Indigenous communities. M’Chigeeng First Nation was celebrated as the first Indigenous community to be directly connected through a PomeGran-installed OLT, marking an important milestone in the project’s mission to bridge the digital divide.
During the Q&A session, Joe Hickey and Ashraf Youssef addressed community questions regarding permitting processes, access on private lands, installation in rocky or remote areas, availability of 25G PON for commercial and residential customers, and PomeGran’s operational scalability plans to support the network.
You can watch key highlights from the webinar in the video below:
Stay tuned for more updates on the Northern Ontario Gigabit Fibre Project.
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