Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia

Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia is a government initiative that will provide broadband services to 100% of civic addresses in Nova Scotia. The initiative is a public private partnership co-funded by the Government of Canada, the Nova Scotia provincial government and three Internet service providers.
In May 2006, the Nova Scotia government announced that it would work with a number of partners to ensure that every Nova Scotian would have broadband access. The Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia initiative was established to deliver high speed access to the Internet to 100 per cent of Nova Scotians by the end of 2009. When the initiative is complete, the entire province will have access to broadband services. When the 100 per cent target is reached, Nova Scotia will be one of the most connected jurisdictions in Canada and in North America .
At the time of the announcement, high-speed Internet service was available to 72% of Nova Scotian communities, which comprised about 80 per cent of the population . It was estimated that approximately 200,000 Nova Scotians, 93,500 dwellings, 213 schools, and 5,600 businesses did not have access to broadbandservices.
In September 2006 the Nova Scotia government announced that it would undertake a pilot project to examine ways to bring affordable high-speed Internet service to rural areas . A 15km area from Tidnish to Port Howe, Cumberland County, was chosen and the government invested $430,000 in the project. The province used a request for proposals to find a partner company to implement the pilot project.
In January 2007 Seaside Communications, a small cable tv company based on Cape Breton island, won the contract to undertake the pilot project. It was completed by the summer of 2007, and the province issued Requests for Proposals for the delivery of broadband services to residents of seven zones it had created across the province.
In October 2007, the confirmed that it was contributing to the Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia initiative. The $75 million investment in high-speed is being cost-shared by the federal government ($14.5 million), the provincial government ($19.5 million) and the companies contracted to deliver the service ($41 million).
In December 2007, the province signed contracts with two Internet service providers, and Seaside Communications to deliver high speed services to most of rural Nova Scotia.
Seaside Communications signed contracts to deliver broadband services to residents of the counties of: Cumberland, Colchester, Guysborough, Antigonish, Pictou and all of the island of Cape Breton.
Eastlink signed contracts to deliver broadband services to residents of the counties of Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth, Digby, Annapolis, Kings, and Hants.
The following August 2008, the province signed a third contract with Omniglobe Networks to deliver high speed services to rural Halifax Regional Municipality.

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