Upping the bandwidth
West Hants rural internet speeds expected to get a boost
“It’s a series of tubes.”
That’s how former United States Senator Ted Stevens, a republican from Alaska, famously described the internet in 2006.
The simplistic and oft-derided explanation has been mocked and ‘memed’ online ever since those words were uttered. However, in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, a series of tubes is exactly what’s being installed in order to increase internet speeds in that community.
The extended fibre network is nearing completion, as cables are being installed from the Windsor area into the community of Brooklyn, thanks in part to a $75,000 grant from the province and approximately $150,000 in gas tax funding.
It’s something that members of that community are anxiously awaiting. The upgrade will potentially boost their maximum internet speeds to upwards of 50 or 70 megabytes per second, where they’re lucky if they hit 10 megabytes per second now.
These are speeds people in more urban areas, like Halifax, take for granted. But in some communities across Hants County, residents are stuck in the dial-up past.
The increase in speed will make it easier for Brooklyn residents to connect to friends and family online, access digital entertainment, like Netflix and online gaming, and also operate websites for their own businesses.
West Hants Coun. David Keith has been pushing for high speed internet since the 2016 election. He says residents are begging for it.
“When we started campaigning, I was shocked as we got into Ashdale, Hillsvale, and I was knocking on people’s doors… within the first couple of days they’d say ‘David, can you help us?’” Keith said. “They told me ‘we cannot sell our homes.’ What used to be important was water, and it’s not that anymore. If you don’t have high speed (internet) they’re walking out.”