Need for speed
Fibre optic internet coming to Baddeck and Wagmatcook
Residents of the Baddeck and Wagmatcook will soon be able to enjoy faster internet speeds in their homes and businesses.
The Municipality of the County of Victoria and
Seaside Communications’ cable service division are working on the final stages to bring fibre optic internet to the rural Victoria County communities.
“It’s going to bring fibre to the box or to the node and there will be a high-speed cable going into the home, so that’s a big increase in speed,” said Victoria County Deputy Warden Larry Dauphinee, who also serves on a sub-committee for broadband.
The project is expected to improve upload speeds, which will make for easier access for customers posting to web pages.
“High-speed internet has always been high priority in our municipality … as council we realize the importance of highspeed internet and it’s one of the reasons we’re going to keep pushing it.”
In 2009, Victoria County became a leader in broadband internet after becoming the first municipality in the province to develop a four-year broadband strategy to upgrade the infrastructure.
Dauphinee believes having fibre optic internet will be beneficial to county residents, but also be a boost from an economic standpoint.
“When we have people looking at investing in Victoria County or building businesses, the number one question that seems to be asked is ‘what do you have for internet.’” said Dauphinee, councillor for the Ingonish area.
“Anyone that’s looking to get into business these days, I think the internet, especially highspeed internet, is a crucial part of anyone doing business.”
Seaside Communications received federal and provincial funding in 2016 to improve rural internet across the province, including Victoria County. The project will see an increase in wireless speeds from 1.5 MB to as much as 10 MB.
“Our goal (in Victoria County) is to be up to 25 MB by 2020,” said Dauphinee, when asked about the internet speeds.
Seaside isn’t the only internet provider in the municipality. Bell Aliant serves parts of the county, including the northern areas.
“For rural broadband we have tried to contact Bell and basically, they told us they weren’t interested in upgrading rural broadband throughout the area,” said District 1 Coun. Paul MacNeil, who also serves on the five-person broadband committee for the county.
“We had to find another provider and Seaside being the local company, we checked with them first and it seemed to have worked.”
The municipality was disappointed Bell wasn’t interested in expanding its services in the county.
“We are having some success with dealing with Bell to agree to use some of their fibre optic lines that they already have in place, so they’re trying their best to help us, I’d say,” said Dauphinee. “It’s disappointing in one way, but in the other end they’re willing to assist with other companies who offer those services.”
The Cape Breton Post contacted Seaside Communications via phone and email for comment on the project, but the company was not immediately available for comment.
Dauphinee said there was no deadline on the project, however he believes the first customers will be hooked up to the new service in early April.
“It’s our goal to increase the internet speeds right across the whole county — we’re going to continue to push forward.”
For more information on broadband in Victoria County, visit www.victoriacountybroadband.com.
Residents can also visit Seaside Communications website, www.seaside.ns.ca, for more information on fibre optic and prices.