It's an exciting day to be a resident of Morden with a future of high-speed Internet with no monthly fees to the city.

At the State of The City Address, Mayor Ken Wiebe announced Morenet, a high-speed wireless internet service which will be available to all tax-paying members of Morden.

As society continues to become more integrated with technology having reliable access is being considered a necessary service, explains Wiebe.

"We intend to provide this as a city service, the same as we provide the library, the same as we provide recreation, the same as we provide roads."

Wiebe says every level of government considers the internet as a needed service and Morden is putting its money where its mouth is to do just that.

The city has been working on ideas on how to provide internet for a number of years now. Teaming up with Infotec Manitoba, signal locations around the city will provide fifth Generation (5G) internet service to the surrounding area.

At 100 Megabits per second (Mbps)  and greater upload and download speeds with no data caps, this endeavour will be one of the first of its kind in Canada.

Costs for setting up the technology and infrastructure are around $350,000.

Wiebe says this service will be covered by the city and residents will only have to pay the installation fee of a router.

"The initial cost of installing it will cost you somewhere in the vicinity of $400," explains Wiebe. He says once the router is installed there are no additional charges.

Over the past few months, there were tests done to ensure the stability and effectiveness of the service and those who participated said it exceeded their expectations.

The service will become available to select locations of Morden starting May 1, with the entire city to receive the service by Fall 2018.

More information on Morenet, or the contest to create the service's new logo can be found here.