Despite delays the new Internet service, Morenet, is still planned to cover all residents within Morden city limits by this fall.

Installations had been planned to begin in May, however, Engineering Director Dave Haines says a number of factors meant those households were unable to connect to the service.

"We started installing, but not activating, because we had some issues outside our control, outside of our network even. We're trying to catch up, and get ahead of it, so we can open up more areas to service."

Other issues have been the speedtest.net server not accurately reporting Internet speeds, as Morenet is the first of its kind in Canada.

The 5G wireless Internet service currently covers select areas in the northeast and southeast portions of Morden. Haines explains, because the service is based on wireless technology, there needs to be a direct connection between the relay tower and the router. To maintain a strong and consistent signal, the city aims to create the shortest distance between the router and signal. He notes Morenet is adding more towers to create a more comprehensive coverage plan,

"That's still all on track," says Haines. "There's a public notice period we're in to give people a chance to see the towers, if they're affected by them, and have the regulator see whether there's anything to adjust or change in our proposal."

Currently, there are around five locations advertised, though Haines says most are in industrial areas on city property, except for one in Lions Park.

Some city residents have expressed concerns, as more people connect to Morenet, Internet speeds will lag. He explains they've take usage into account to balance the load appropriately for a stable connection of 100 Megabits per second, with no data caps.

 

Current coverage of the Morenet service