For the past year, the state of Morenet has been uncertain, today the City of Morden announced the Internet service would no longer be supported. On October 30th the plug will officially be pulled on the project impacting approximately 450 households currently using Morenet.

In November 2018, the service was delayed due to technical issues, with the towers the city had purchased unable to support the weight of the equipment. In May 2019 the city had to reassess the project, as the initial cost estimates had changed. 

"The initial approvals were based on $100,000 a year operational cost, and $300,000 to $400,000 of one-time capital cost. That had moved dramatically from that position. From our budget this year we had approved directly or indirectly around $1.5 million, which will not be spent now," explains Morden Mayor Brandon Burley.

Burley says the decision to end Morenet was due to their understanding of what was necessary to complete and deliver the service. He says the new analysis brought up viability issues around technology, back-haul issues and the cost, with the escalation in value caused by increasing the bandwidth of the system. The current system was only able to support 1GB of bandwidth across all Morenet users. 

To date, around $650,000 has been invested in Morenet, and the city is looking into recouping costs. Burley says they can't look into selling the network as a whole because of a nondisclosure agreement, but the system can be dismantled and those components sold.  

When it comes to reimbursing taxpayers, or those who purchased a Morenet router, Burley says there is no simple solution for Council.

"There is no right answer, and no one will ever be satisfied. If we move to reimburse people who paid for installations, people who never received the benefit, but paid taxes towards the service will be unhappy. If we don't, those who paid for the service, and will no longer be able to use the equipment they purchased, will be unhappy as well."

Burley says they are aggressively pursuing options for fibre optic to provide modern connectivity to Morden residents, so the community and businesses can grow. 

The city asks if you have further questions, please pick up an FAQ sheet at the Civic Centre or click here for up to date information.

When asked if the city was still in any legal proceedings regarding Morenet the city's lawyers say they have no comment at this time.