The Simcoe Community Access Network ( SCAN ) is a Non-Profit cooperative that will have a positive impact on county citizens, the public sector and various private sector business communities located within the county. SCAN will attract new and high tech business to Simcoe County by providing easier access to government and community resources. SCAN will enhance tourism through easy to navigate interactive web pages. In addition for the first time rural communities will be able to compete on an even scale with large urban centres.

The SCAN project will provide a mechanism for the delivery of sophisticated telecommunications services and network based applications to the people of Simcoe County. Some of the key applications include Virtual Town Hall, Surgical Pre-Admission Clinic, Telemedicine (applications for patient assessment, consultations, education and meetings), Land Information Network Cooperative GIS applications, Connectivity for Schools and Libraries. Key objectives are the to enhance telecommunications services throughout Simcoe County, to capture benefits and synergies of stakeholders and to encourage service providers and governments to enhance availability and affordability of services in the county.

The technical solution is a hybrid of landlines and wireless technologies (5 sites will be connected via 100 MBps wireless technology.). The current telecommunications infrastructure in Simcoe County is highly diverse. In urban areas such as the City of Orillia, fiber optics at high speeds is available as is wireless in the City of Barrie, and the Towns of Collingwood and Midland.

The new high-speed fibre backbone (Fibre Facts) will be available to users in the City of Barrie up to the City of Orillia, Alliston, Tottenham, Midhurst, Collingwood, Midland, and Penetanguishene. Upon completion of the new network infrastructure, all users in Simcoe County will have access to the fibre optic backbone and will connect through high bandwidth local loop facilities at speeds of 100MBPs.

This robust, resilient, scaleable and open network will provide users in the County of Simcoe with access to a high-speed network that will easily meet their connectivity needs of today, and allow for future expansion within our community and connectivity to future neighbour broadband networks as they emerge.