High-speed internet coverage for all of rural N.B. in 18 months: Byrne
Last Updated: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 | 8:45 AM ET
CBC News
The New Brunswick government is renewing its promise to plug the entire province into affordable high-speed internet service.
Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne announced on Tuesday that the government has chosen a company that will connect high-speed internet service to the 10 per cent of New Brunswickers who currently don't have it. But Byrne refused to name the company or the cost of the plan.
The business minister said he hopes that conversion to high-speed internet will happen very soon.
"Some communities will see access sooner than others, but by the end of 18 months you will see complete coverage throughout the province," Byrne said.
"And we're hoping that in working with the company that we can accelerate that timeline as well."
But cost is still the big issue for many New Brunswickers who are forced to dial up to the internet.
Bonnie Lyons is frustrated with the slow dial-up service at her home, especially with four school-age kids. She said her children need access to high-speed internet to keep up with their schoolwork.
High-speed broadband isn't available in Charters Settlement, which is 10 minutes outside of Fredericton, where she lives. At almost $200 per month plus equipment fees, satellite internet is too expensive for her family.
" I just find that's a little expensive, considering what I used to pay when I lived in town was pretty much what I pay now for the dial-up service," she said.
The business minister said the government will make the new high-speed internet service affordable, whether it comes via broadband, wireless or satellite. Along with the company that will provide the service, Byrne is not saying what the provincial government feels is affordable.
Byrne said these details will be known in the near year.
Progressive Conservative MLA Jack Carr made access to high-speed internet an issue in the New Maryland-Sunbury West byelection he won last month. Carr went as far as filing a complaint with the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission to get the issue discussed.
Now that he's elected, Carr said the province should help pay the cost of high-speed internet for those without access.
"It's a service that's needed for all New Brunswickers and it's not a very huge cost when you take 50,000 New Brunswickers who don't have access to high speed," Carr said. "So if there was a form of a subsidy I think one of the best ways to subsidize would be the initial startup equipment that families have to pay for."
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