Hello advisors. This is a note wishing you all the very best in the New Year. As we have since 1993, we will be looking for useful activities that support our mission statement:

• To ensure that all Canadians are able to participate in community-based communications and electronic information services by promoting and supporting local community network initiatives.
• To represent and promote the Canadian community networking movement at the national and international level.

In 2025, TC was very active in the international discussions around the World Summit for the Information Society +20. This is now completed and I will share some final results. In this message I thought I would copy you on this excerpt from the year end greetings from the National Capital Freenet which itemizes their activities and achievements over 2025. In the spirit of learning from each other, please feel free to share any similiar year-end roundups you feel are appropriate.

Marita

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..... excerpt......

2. Some of what we accomplished in 2025

NCF’s mission to advance digital equity centres around ensuring everyone in our community has access to internet that’s affordable, reliable and that they can understand how to use, while feeling safe online.

We’re proud of all we’ve been able to accomplish, from when we first launched our dial-up services on February 1, 1993 to this past year!

In 2025 that included:

• moving our data centre, adding additional network resilience;
• beta-testing and launching Fibre-to-the-Home internet services;
• recruiting and training a bunch of new HelpDesk volunteers thanks to the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation;
• updating our bylaws, official purpose and implementing a new Strategic Plan;
• winning a Community Service Award from the Rotary Club of West Ottawa; and
• advocating to the CRTC and government, including a recent submission related to network resilience and reliability.

The biggest thing we did in 2025 was launch CommuniFi, our free-to-use community WiFi network pilot project, starting in Vanier-Overbrook. Over the past year, CommuniFi has:

• connected more than 3800 unique devices for those living on low incomes in and around 251 Donald Street, including a new health clinic and a free tax-filing clinic;
• offered speeds tested up to 830Mbps; and
• blocked more than 100,000 malware attempts and 20,000 phishing attempts using CIRA's DNS Firewall.

Check out our latest update on CommuniFi here.

Check out a video about the project here.

The CommuniFi pilot was funded by CIRA (the Canadian Internet Registration Authority) and built in partnership with Ottawa Community Housing and Hiboo Networks, a subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa. We’re particularly proud of this unique model that brings together not-for-profits and municipally owned organizations to build local community digital infrastructure.

In many ways CommuniFi takes NCF back to our roots as a community network offering dial-up, just with upgraded technology.

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Marita

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