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CANNING, N.S. —

Several unserved or under serviced communities across the Annapolis Valley will soon be connected to the fast lane of the information superhighway.

Develop Nova Scotia recently announced the first round of Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative projects. Two Annapolis Valley companies are among the five that have signed contracts, Cross Country TV and Internet of Canning and Mainland Telecom Inc. of Middleton. Both companies were pre-qualified to submit project proposals.

Steve Scott, co-owner of Cross County with his wife, Linda, said they put forward a proposal to provide predominantly wired internet service. They’ll be constructing about 100 km of fibre-to-the-home in areas that currently have no high speed service and will be upgrading some existing wireless sites.

The project is expected to unfold over the next 18 months. Cross Country is contributing $817,000 and $1,225,000 is coming from Develop Nova Scotia.

Cross Country mainly serves the northeast portion of Kings County with the majority of customers located between Canning and Cambridge. Other communities and locations involved include Glenmont, Grand Pre, Woodville and Belcher Street.

Scott said the Develop Nova Scotia project presents an opportunity to offer service where it wasn’t economically feasible to do so before. This includes approximately a dozen roads within their existing service area.

Scott said they’ll be installing fibre optic cable to the home where the numbers permit. The project has the potential to provide service to approximately 1,500 homes and businesses.

“Our challenge over the years has been when we build a new line into an area, we have to pay a make-ready charge to Bell and Nova Scotia Power,” Scott said.

Typically, the biggest expenses involved with such line extensions are tree trimming and pole replacement to enable Cross Country to install its cable. The provincial cost sharing offered through the Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative program made the line extensions possible.

Another part of the project involves upgrading cable modems for higher internet speeds across the existing Cross Country coaxial cable-based network.

Develop Nova Scotia’s objective is to have everyone on a wired connection with a 50 Mbps download speed and 10 Mbps upload speed. For wireless, it’s a 25 Mbps download speed and a 5 Mbps upload speed.

Scott said this is a modern-day infrastructure project similar to when efforts were made in the past to put telephone and electrical services into all communities. He said it’s a great opportunity for Cross Country and potential customers and they are pleased to be partnering with Develop Nova Scotia.

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD

Mainland Telecom operations manager Nick MacArthur said the Middleton-based company’s project involves building and operating a fibre optic network in the Municipality of Clare. The build footprint is 278 km and the network could potentially reach 4,600 homes and businesses.

MacArthur said service levels vary throughout western Nova Scotia and the Annapolis Valley depending on what community you’re in.

While there is competition among high-speed service providers in more densely populated communities, residents and businesses in smaller communities are very anxious to gain access. Perhaps their only alternative currently is slower DSL internet connection through a copper phone line or an LTE contract where data is transmitted over a cell tower.

“Overall, people are very much looking forward to having an enhanced service in their area. The municipality has been working on finding somebody to come do this for a while now,” MacArthur said.

Customers will have the option to choose either 300-Mbps or 1-Gbps monthly internet connections. MacArthur said the project could change the way people commute by providing the ability to work, study or access entertainment from home.

A lack of high-speed service remains a problem not only in rural Nova Scotia but in communities across Canada and the United States. For example, if someone has to download an email with a large file attachment for work and they have a slow internet connection, it could take an hour or more. This hurts productivity and disallows many from working from home effectively.

“Internet is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives and file sizes are becoming larger and larger,” MacArthur said.

The project will help level the playing field in Clare in terms of the municipality’s ability to retain and attract residents.

“It’s hard to encourage young adults to stay in a community where they don’t have the same access to information,” MacArthur points out.

He said they’re excited to partner with the municipality and Develop Nova Scotia on the project and it’s great to see some local companies represented in the funding announcements.

The Clare project is valued at $9.95 million. The municipality will fund the project to a maximum of $2.45 million using money from the Federal Gas Tax Fund. Mainland is contributing $3.1 million and Develop Nova Scotia is providing $4.4 million.

Included in these values are $1.5 million from the municipality and $2.2 million from Mainland to service areas that weren’t eligible under the Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative.

Kirk.starratt@kingscountynews.ca

BY THE NUMBERS

- 70 per cent of homes and businesses across Nova Scotia currently have access to high speed internet. The first round of Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative projects will increase the number to 86 per cent. Develop Nova Scotia’s goal is in excess of 95 per cent.

- 42,000 homes and businesses across the province will gain access through the projects.

- The Nova Scotia Internet Trust Fund is a $193 million fund established by the provincial government in 2018.

- An investment of almost $45 million is committed to the first round of Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative projects.

- The investment leverages approximately $56 million in private and municipal funding.

DID YOU KNOW?

- Bell Canada is also involved with several Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative projects in communities including Bear River, Brooklyn, East Dalhousie, Port Lorne, Scots Bay, Elmsdale, Kennetcook, Noel, Prospect Road, Walton and many more.