Rural fixed wireless and satellite internet provider Xplornet is preparing for its first 5G offerings with a new fibre deployment jointly funded by the government.

The New Brunswick-based company today announced a joint investment of $36 million with the Canadian government to build out a fibre network in Eastern Ontario.

Xplornet is funding the majority of the project by setting aside $25.2 million, while the Government of Canada is pitching in $10.8 million via the Connect to Innovate program.

The project will begin immediately and is expected to be complete by 2020. It will offer ‘5G-ready’ internet technology with download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second to over 35,000 rural homes and businesses in three counties: Northumberland, Hastings and Lennox and Addington.

Those speeds are not in line with the expected peak theoretical speeds of 5G, but Xplornet clarified to MobileSyrup that actual 5G will depend on the delivery and implementation of 5G equipment.

The company noted that the timelines for this project happen to align with the timelines for when 5G equipment will arrive in Canada and therefore provides access to 5G for rural on the same timelines as urban Canada.