HALIFAX: The officials in charge of bringing high speed Internet to more parts of Nova Scotia promise that more projects are on the way.
After issuing a Request for Proposals under the first round – Deborah Page, Develop Nova Scotia’s director of marketing and communication – told The Reporter a second call for proposals for all unserviced areas of the province was sent out in February, which closed on June 5.
“We now have proposals in and our team is actively reviewing, scoring, and doing all of the due diligence on all of those proposals that have come in,” Page said. “We expect be in a position to start announcing those in August.”
After announcing the completion of Internet upgrades for Shelburne County and areas surrounding of Kings County, the province confirmed in May that more accelerated projects are underway for other parts of Nova Scotia, including the Strait area.
Develop Nova Scotia led the work with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to identify ways to accelerate projects. More than 260 kilometres of line have been prepared, including trimming vegetation, replacing poles and dealing with water crossings.
The government said it remains committed to cover more than 95 per cent of Nova Scotia homes and businesses and with the first round of projects announced, 86 per cent of homes and businesses will have access to the service.
After this second round, Page said they will consider another round of RFPs, going directly to ISPs, or pilot projects.
“Our hope in this round is that we cover off as much of the province that’s left to be served, as possible,” said Page. “Of course, we won’t know until we’re little bit further into the review and the scoring, that kind of thing, but if it doesn’t, if there’s some sports left over, we will very quickly know that.
“Our goal is to get as close to 100 per cent of Nova Scotia homes and businesses as possible.”
Page said Property Valuation Services Corporation provided them with information on where people live and where businesses are operating so they can target their efforts.
“All of the areas in your area that don’t have anything, as long as they have houses and businesses; structures that would require Internet service, we know where those are.”
Wired technology projects will provide minimum speeds of 50 Mbps to download and 10 Mbps to upload, while wireless technologies will provide minimum speeds of 25 Mbps to download and 5 Mbps to upload. This will allow users to browse e-mail, download music and large files, play on-line games, and stream high definition video.
As for whether some areas are too small or too spread out, Page said there are options for customers in those areas.
“Density of housing does play a role in it,” Page acknowledged. “The higher the density, the more likely it is going to be feasible to get fibre to the home. And then once you start to move out of those density areas, you can sometimes do it, but sometimes it’s more feasible to do a signal off a tower. As you get more and more remote, you get into a situation where it’s more likely to do a satellite service.”
Topography and geography also play a role in decision-making, Page noted but technological advances could provide solutions.
“The terrain and geography does impact things,” she said. “But technology is changing a lot.
“Some of that newer technology that’s coming on is less impacted by geography, and things like trees, and valleys, and dips, and hills.’
The province is working with ISPs to ease congestion on existing services to enhance the quality of Internet connections. This will help Nova Scotians working differently and from home during COVID-19, while still staying connected to friends and family.
In March, the province announced an additional $15 million to speed up delivery of high-speed Internet to assist Nova Scotians through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The accelerated plans under the Internet for Nova Scotia initiative included $2.2 million to bring service six months sooner to 18,000 connections in the Elmsdale, Shelburne and Caledonia, Queens County areas, as well as Cumberland and Colchester counties. As part of the work, Cumberland and Colchester counties will see 19 towers installed within 100 days.
Access to connections will be substantially complete within 12 months for the more than 42,000 homes and businesses announced in the first round of projects.
Page said the RFPs called for successful bidders to continue measuring and upgrading speeds over the next 10 years.
“We know where all of the technology is across the province that can deliver that can deliver the minimum speeds that we’re requiring,” Page explained. “We won’t approve a project unless it meets minimum speeds.”
In August, the province will be making an announcement that more homes and businesses have been approved for high speed Internet projects, but she cautioned that a lot of work has to be done before any service upgrades are implemented.
“I appreciate absolutely that it’s been a long time coming for a lot of people, and certainly the times have been making it important,” Page noted.
After August, officials will continue to monitor the new services, see which areas have been covered, and determine how they can cover under-serviced areas.