Oshawa, ON – Recently Oshawa Power, Hydro One Telecom and Cisco Systems collaborated to help the Back Door Mission, located on Bagot Street, Oshawa, with acquiring wireless internet service to support the recently launched the Mission United Project.

Mission United is a multi-agency project created in partnership with CMHA, Durham Mental Health Services, Lakeridge Health, the Region of Durham, and others working in the Back Door Mission space to support increased operations during the COVID-19 Pandemic, including the ability to set up video conferencing with health and social work practitioners from the mission location. These added services will assist the City’s most vulnerable population get the support they need safely.

Oshawa Power has a robust fibre network in the downtown core of Oshawa. In discussions with the Mission’s Board President Derek Giberson, who explained the Mission’s needs, the team started to brainstorm some ideas of how to get internet service to the Mission.  Oshawa Power built a wireless building bridge to connect the Back Door Mission building to internet services from Oshawa Power’s location across the street. In partnership with Hydro One Telecom, who also donated their time and services to this initiative and in conjunction with Cisco Systems’ donation of equipment, the Back Door Mission received wireless internet service on May 6, 2020.

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“We are so proud of our team for creating this unique solution and for working with Hydro One Telecom and Cisco Systems to get internet service to a facility that needs it so desperately during this pandemic. The services provided by the Back Door Mission are so essential to our community and I’m glad we were able to enable them to continue their great work,” says Ivano Labricciosa, President and CEO, Oshawa Power.

About Oshawa Power:

Oshawa Power is a regulated utility that supplies safe, reliable, and efficient electricity distribution to over 60,000 customers in the city of Oshawa. Oshawa Power is part of the Oshawa Power and Utilities Corporation family of companies that also provides telecommunications, renewable energy solutions and energy generation projects.

About The Back Door Mission:

The Back Door Mission works to relieve the burdens of poverty and social dislocation within the economically deprived and street population of Oshawa. We provide clothing, lunch, groceries, on-site counseling, medical, and harm reduction support.

About Hydro One Telecom:

Hydro One Telecom delivers high-capacity telecommunications solutions to enterprises, wholesalers and public sector agencies via an expansive fibre-optic network across Ontario and extending into the United States. Hydro One Telecom provides high-speed data networking services for Network-to-Network, Cloud-to-Cloud, Network-to-Cloud and Data Centre-to-Data Centre business requirements and is a wholly owned subsidiary of 2486267 Ontario Inc., which is wholly owned by Hydro One Limited.

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Media Contact:

Sheila Risorto

Marketing and Communications Analyst

Oshawa Power

905-439-1930

srisorto@opuc.on.ca