Internet gains

Rural broadband effort continuing, says MacLellan

Business Minister Geoff MacLellan says work is continuing on a plan to improve access to broadband Internet in rural Nova Scotia.

MacLellan described the effort as currently being in its “middle mile,” with the final mile to come in the spring, when asked about its progress during a post-cabinet teleconference and scrum with reporters Thursday. The report is currently with the department, he said, although he hasn’t yet seen it.

He said the report is still in draft form. “Where we’re at now is the third-party proprietary information, so the final stage of this is to confirm what we can release … how much we can include and which aspects of it is sensitive information,” MacLellan said.

“I certainly would hope that we could get it out before Christmas. If not, it will be early in the new year.

Last year, the province announced that a company had been chosen to develop a strategy intended to lead to better high-speed Internet service in more rural Nova Scotia communities. That work, according to a government press release, was to include mapping assets, identifying gaps and engineering a plan to connect the province’s core internet network to the community level.

MacLellan said the study will likely include a lot of things that they already know they will have to address — the overall cost, which he said could be $300-500 million; what infrastructure is required; how to best make use of the available federal program; the role of municipalities; as well as governance.

“We already know that there’s a lot of work to be done,” MacLellan said. “There’s a lot of work, a lot of investment and a lot of planning that has to get done.”

There is $14.5 million currently on the table from the province, he added.

Earlier this year, the province also announced it would spend $1.4 million on 22 projects to connect 5,400 homes and 420 businesses to high-speed Internet.