Open access THE GUARDIAN
Pictou County, N.S. tackling poor rural internet by creating their own network
As the P.E.I. government works on a deal to partner with internet providers and improve rural speeds, a municipality in Nova Scotia has decided to just do it themselves.
Brian Cullen, CAO of the Municipality of Pictou County, has been tackling poor internet in his rural region for the past three years. Cullen was the keynote speaker at the Wireless & Beyond Roadshow, which visited The Hotel on Pownal in Charlottetown on Nov. 21. It was his last stop on a cross-Maritime tour. Broadband speed tests indicated most of Pictou was receiving less than 5 Mbps, he said.
According to the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, that’s about 35 Mbps below the 2019 average.
“We confirmed we have a problem,” Cullen said. “The rural areas simply do not have the download speeds.”
On Nov. 27 during the fall session of the P.E.I. legislature, Minister of Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture Matthew MacKay updated MLAs on the $74 million plan to improve broadband internet services to 30,000 Island residents and businesses. The province is expecting to ink deals with Bell Canada and Xplornet by the end of the year to carry out the work.
“This is going to roll out soon, and we’re hoping by 2021 that the majority of Islanders will have proper high-speed Internet,” he said.
Pictou County’s solution is to design, build and operate their own open access network for about 20,600 people to tap into. The idea is to give residents better quality internet at the industry standard price, which will be poured straight back into the community.
“If you own your network, you really own your future,” he said.
Cullen said finding funding for the project was the biggest challenge. Eight-million dollars later, and with a budget of about $25 million, he’s hoping to start constructing the network this January, which includes running fibre cables from Truro, N.S.
Pictou County will act as internet service provider, with Nova Communications creating and managing the network. Cullen wants the service to be equitable and adaptable to future technologies, thinking of it as a legacy project, he said.
“We believe our residents will benefit for generations.”
The original plan was simply to facilitate the network, but the municipality decided to take full ownership after considering the economic benefits. Cullen said it’s similar to providing utilities like water, electricity, or infrastructure.
“We’re basically building (a) road,” he said.
The municipality hopes to have the service running in the next few years, potentially offering bandwidth capacity for its larger companies such as the Northern Pulp mill and Michelin Tire. They’re also considering providing services like digital town halls, a health-care hub, traffic and security updates, and online municipal election voting.
Cullen believes Pictou’s open access network will be a first for Atlantic Canada. There are