Technical crew installing
high speed tower in Moser River , October 2007, photo by Hatch
Media
Eastern
Nova Scotia Update
Dateline:4/2/09
Rural Nova Scotia
finally has another chance to be competitive on a global scale, with
the advent of high speed internet "bringing the world to its
doorstep". Yet almost two years since the rural broadband project,
much of the north-eastern corner of the province is still without high
speed service.
Communities in Halifax Regional Municipality are already wired for the
most part, but some sideroads and most of Guysborough County and Cape
Breton are still unserviced.
That's tough on small businesses that are already struggling to survive
in an uncertain economy. In areas that now have access, however, there
is a growing list of success stories of those doing business via the
internet. (Nova
Scotia's 'Come to Life' vignettes currently airing on CBC)
According to Jennifer
Graham, Coastal Co-ordinator of the EAC.
"Coastal communities are where the real action is happening now.
These are the people who are shaping our coastal futures”.
That is, the people
in the communities with high speed access. For those who still wait,
may they take heart. The 'end of 2009' is only 288 days away. (4/2/09)
High Speed Fast
Facts:
Who has high speed on the Eastern Shore and who doesn't?
Fact: High speed service stops just east of Moser River at the HRM/Halifax
County line - along the way, there are gaps in service on the byways
of Highway 7.
From Ecum Secum to Cape Breton, at the end of HRM, most communities
still wait for the infrastructure necessary to provide them with high
speed.
When will ALL Nova Scotians have high speed?
Broadband
for Rural Nova Scotia (BRNS), now managing the project under the
Department of Economic and Rural Development hat, assures us that:
All Nova Scotians will have high speed access
by the end of 2009.
Who's providing
the Service?
Today, three internet service providers are picking up the slack and
filling in the gaps in service as quickly as they can. From regulatory
okays to installation is a long process, but it will come. Most of the
work should be completed and the ISP's ready to flip the switch by fall.
BRNS has
partnered with:
Seaside High Speed - has just provided service to five communities
in Richmond County (as of March 10); will build 115 more new sites in
Cumberland and Victoria Counties, Cape Breton and northeastern Nova
Scotia throughout the remainder of '09.
EastLink
- servicing nine counties throughout north eastern
Nova Scotia, from Cumberland to Victoria; working
to build 55 new towers and 47 existing structures
Omniglobe
Broadband - will complete work on unserviced addresses in Zone 7
- Halifax Regional Municipality. See below:
Remaining
HRM Communities Without Service
According to the web site, "In August 2008, Omniglobe
Networks won the contract to deliver broadband access to the remaining
unserved civic addresses in zone 7 - Halifax Regional Municipality.
The new service will be delivered by OmniGlobe Broadband, the company's
broadband division, which has identified sites for its towers. Currently,
the company is working to complete the consultation and regulatory processes
required before tower construction can take place." (January
2009 Press Release)
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