The Newfoundland and Labrador government is considering financial support for a second major telecommunications carrier in the province, providing competition to Bell Aliant.

A consortium of companies — including Rogers Communications, Allstream and Persona Communications — has made a pitch to establish a second fibre-optic link to the mainland.

Premier Danny Williams said cabinet is giving serious consideration to a proposal for a second telecommunications link between Newfoundland and mainland Canada.
(CBC)

The proposal was made long before a small fire at an Aliant switching plant knocked out telephone, cellphone and internet services in the St. John's area for more than four hours last week.

Among other services, access to 911 was impaired by the outage, which is under investigation.

Premier Danny Williams said the outage demonstrates a need for a second system.

"We are the only jurisdiction, as I understand, in Canada that doesn't have a competitor, that doesn't have an alternate source, that doesn't provide some redundancy or backup," Williams said Thursday.

"It's incumbent on the private sector and the public sector to try and provide those alternatives and I see that as an important role for government."

"I'm not easily shocked but I was shocked when I was told this had happened," said St. John's Mayor Andy Wells, who has written to the provincial government to press for a new fibre-optic link between Newfoundland and the mainland.

Wells, who had served as a commissioner on the Public Utilities Board, believes competition will lead to lower rates for consumers and would add another level of safety.

"Given the events of last Friday, there's a compelling reason to proceed with the construction of this second link. It's clearly in the public interest," Wells said.

Paul Hatcher, the chief executive of Persona Communications, declined an interview, but suggested the consortium may have something to say soon.

The project's value is pegged at $82 million. To work, though, it would require some sort of public-sector participation.

Williams — who sold his cable company, Cable Atlantic, to Rogers Inc. before he became premier — would not indicate how much the province is being asked to contribute.

He said that if the provincial government invests in the project, it would expect to have an equity stake or become a partial owner in return.