Maple Leaf Fibre is a game changer for Kingston

Recently, plans for the Maple Leaf Fibre system were announced, a project in which CPC has been involved for four years! This is a big step forward for the residents, businesses, and students in Kingston.

“This is a truly exciting opportunity to develop much-needed Internet Infrastructure along one of the busiest routes in Canada,” says Mike Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of Crosslake Fibre. “We are thrilled to be working with great partners and believe that Maple Leaf Fibre has ideally positioned itself to provide a new, innovative solution in the Canadian wholesale marketplace.”

Maple Leaf Fibre is a fibre-optic cable system being developed by Metro Optic, Crosslake Fibre, and Utilities Kingston. The fibre-optic system will have a terrestrial segment between Montreal, Ottawa, and Kingston, as well as a submarine segment in Lake Ontario between Kingston and downtown Toronto.

“This project will provide new and existing businesses in Kingston with even faster and more reliable broadband connectivity – connecting them directly to centres in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa,” says Jim Keech, President and Chief Executive Officer of Utilities Kingston. “Fibre access is at the heart of strengthening our community’s competitive advantage, in particular with its potential to attract an enterprise-class data center, contributing to a smart and livable 21st century city. That's why we're pleased to support this initiative for Kingston.”

Kingston believes the system will help attract an enterprise-class data centre to the region! Maple Leaf Fibre will own and operate the system, acting as a carrier-neutral provider, offering dark fibre to carriers, data centre operators, ISPs, OTTs, MSOs, and government-sponsored network projects.    

“Canada is uniquely situated as gateway for high-capacity data flow between Europe, the U.S. and Asia,” explains Michael Bucheit, Chief Executive Officer of Metro Optic. “The Montreal-Toronto route is critical to reach Europe through the Maritimes, the major U.S. trading hubs of New York and Chicago to the South, and Asia to the West.”

Maple Leaf Fibre has been in development for the last few months and the project will evolve as it gates forward through the design build process. The completion date is scheduled for the second half of 2019.

This new fibre-optic cable system is a game changer for Kingston, and CPC is proud to have been a part of its inception.