Nova Scotia Expands High-speed Internet Access

People in 200 more Nova Scotia communities will soon have access to high-speed Internet services, courtesy of seven innovative, public-private community projects.

The projects are supported by the provincial and federal governments, individual communities and the private sector under Industry Canada's Broadband for Rural and Northern Development program.

A $450,000 provincial investment in the program over the past two years is helping to make broadband as fundamental a part of Nova Scotia's community infrastructure as railways or highways.

"The technology is crucial to economic growth and prosperity," Economic Development Minister Ernest Fage said today, June 23. "From one end of the province to the other, high-speed Internet can make local economies accessible to global opportunities and vice versa."

Expanded access brings individuals and businesses in rural communities the same opportunities urban areas have, including access to commercial, educational and social services that improve a community's quality of life and future prospects.

The high-speed technology opens doors to things like business websites that have the capacity for e-commerce, distance education and training that fill skills gaps, and tele-health services that bring medical expertise into a community when it's needed.

The broadband project in Richmond County, for example, includes a unique 100-megabyte-per-second Ethernet that connects 12 public facilities in the county with each other and with several health and educational facilities. The network is expected to improve services in the cultural, educational and health-care sectors.

In other regions of the province, broadband is enabling communities to become resourceful enough to welcome customer-contact centres, hold international information-technology gatherings, and develop e-commerce projects.

The sign-up rate among citizens in areas that are participating in the program has, in many instances, exceeded expectations. Nova Scotia is relatively well-served in terms of high-speed Internet access and the program has built on this. It is expected that the broadband program will help push the percentage of Nova Scotia homes with access to high-speed service to more than 80 percent.

The seven Nova Scotia Broadband for Rural and Northern Development projects and their project leads are:

• Cape Breton Connectivity Alliance -- Atlantic Learning Innovations Network
• Connecting Cumberland -- Cumberland Regional Economic Development Association
• Broadband Solutions for Rural Development -- Municipality of the County of Victoria
• Richmond County Broadband Project -- Municipality of the County of Richmond
• "Leading the Way" Antigonish County Broadband Project --Antigonish Regional Development Authority
• Connecting Guysborough -- Guysborough County Regional Development Authority
• South West Shore Broadband Initiative -- South West Shore Development Authority

To date, more than $16 million has been invested in Nova Scotia projects related to Broadband for Rural and Northern Development.

"This program has been very successful in the province -- Industry Canada and our Nova Scotia project groups deserve a lot of credit for a job well done," said Mr. Fage.

He added that the province will continue to work with the federal and municipal governments and the private sector to help connect other small communities that continue to wait for similar access and associated benefits.