High-speed internet finally coming to Pictou County

If you’re frustrated that you can’t stream your favourite shows, or fed up after checking your phone and seeing “no signal” yet again, take heart.

That’s because rural areas of Pictou County should finally see highspeed internet service coming this year, allowing people to run their home businesses online or simply enjoy some Netflix after work.

Change is coming thanks to the Municipality of the County of Pictou teaming up with iValley, a Nova Scotia-based not-for-profit that partners with communities to install highspeed internet.

“The internet itself is the highway for every kind of life and business,” said i-Valley co-founder Barry Gander.

Rural areas in Pictou county often lack both cellphone coverage and decent internet.

Gander said that a lack of broadband infrastructure accounted for 25 to 50 per cent of all rural job losses.

“People can’t sell their houses if they don’t have internet these days,” said Gander.

The first step to combatting this problem is assessing what exactly Pictou County needs in order to build its broadband network.

The work will entail business analysis, technical analysis, and design sufficient to properly prepare the municipality for evidence-based decisions on bringing high-speed internet to its underserved and non-served citizens and businesses.

At time of writing Gander did not know how much this project would cost, saying that i-Valley will work with the municipality on funding options.

But the payoff to such an investment can be huge: if Pictou County is properly connected to the internet, its businesses and start-ups could potentially become competitive globally.

And county residents may finally enjoy their Netflix.

“Hopefully you and I will be standing out on a farmstead watching high-speed TV happen,” said Gander.