Premier promises high-speed Internet
Published Thursday October 23rd, 2008
Rural issue | Some areas of province still stuck with dial-up
The provincial government will unveil a new plan to extend high-speed Internet to every part of the province by the end of this year.
Premier Shawn Graham made the promise in a speech to the Fredericton North Sunrise Rotary Club on Wednesday.
"In 2008, we understand that infrastructure is more than roads and water," he said. "It's communications infrastructure like high-speed Internet."
Graham said when the Liberals took power in 2006, 90 per cent of New Brunswick had access to high-speed Internet.
"That was good enough for the previous government, but it wasn't good enough for us because it left a number of people in rural areas without the same access enjoyed by other New Brunswickers," he said.
In July 2006, the Tory government said 100 per cent coverage couldn't be reached, he said. News reports at the time indicate the Tories said it would cost $150 million to service the last 10 per cent of the province.
"We pledged to close that gap and provide 100 per cent coverage by the end of our first mandate," said Graham.
The premier said his government has been working aggressively on the issue.
"In fact, we are so close to resolving it I am confident that by the end of this year, we will be able to announce detailed plans to extend high-speech Internet access to 100 per cent coverage across New Brunswick," he said.
In an interview after his speech, Graham said the province has been talking to a number of service providers and the high-speed solution for rural areas would involve both new money and new technology. He didn't provide additional details.
High-speed Internet in rural areas has become an issue in the Nov. 3 byelection in New Maryland-Sunbury West after Tory candidate Jack Carr filed a complaint with the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission against the province, Aliant and Rogers over a lack of the service.
Carr said Wednesday he was pleased by the premier's promise.
"It is good news any time any politician talks about 100 per cent coverage for high-speed Internet," he said.
Carr said Graham had nothing to say about the issue for the last two years and now that the byelection is under way, he's asking people to wait two more months.
"We've forced him to say something on the issue," he said. "They've made promises at election time before and came up short. I am hopeful that he will come good on this one."
Carr said he isn't annoyed or accusing Graham of trying to hijack the issue. He said his goal of filing the complaint with the human rights commission was to raise awareness and he has succeeded.
Many people from across the province have called him and thanked him for raising the issue, said Carr.
He said he has no intention of withdrawing his human rights complaint.
"I am going to keep that going because he (Graham) can't be trusted," said Carr.
The Liberal candidate in the byelection of New Maryland-Sunbury West is Debbie McCann. The NPD candidate is Mike McCaffrey.
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Kudos to the Premier for acting on a basis of equity and fairness in a timley manner. I trust that the method chosen to change this situation will ensure ongoing service competition that will ultimately create the long term solutions needed for full access.
"We've forced him to say something on the issue,"
Get real!!
Check out Debbie McCann's website;
http://www.votedebbiemccann.ca/platform.html
and check the 5th point in her priorities for New Maryland-Sunbury West.
The fact that you brought this up as a human rights complaint is completely brainless. We are talking high speed internet!!
There’s already one clueless Carr in the Legislature, two will basically sink the PCs.
On the PC website, Jeannot Volpé said;
“We have a track record of getting the job done for the people of this riding(New Maryland-Sunbury West)"
How come they didn't put in high-speed internet for rural areas then?
They only had 7 years to do it!!
If this is the kind of bull Jack Carr spouts now, think what he'll dream up if elected.
However, spending almost $200 million on 10 per cent of New Brunswickers (about 75,000 people receiving a $2.6-million subsidy each to surf the Internet, funded by either the taxpayer or private business) is an expensive proposition during unstable economic times.
I applaud Premier Shawn Graham's moxie for wanting to deliver a high-speed product to rural constituents. But I can't shake the feeling that this is nothing more than an expensive and imprudent political tactic to shore up Liberal support in rural areas. There are far more pressing issues — health care, senior care, basic education, core infrastructure such as roads, bridges, and drinking water — towards which government should be focusing its attention.
Spending millions of dollars for quicker access to movies, music, and hockey scores is not a good return on investment for either government or private business.
However, spending almost $200 million on 10 per cent of New Brunswickers (about 75,000 people receiving a $2.6-million subsidy each to surf the Internet, funded by either the taxpayer or private business) is an expensive proposition during unstable economic times."
This is misinformation. 200 million devided by 75,000 is closer to 2500 dollars a person, not anywhere near 2.6 million. 2500 dollars a person will have a 5 year pay back time, easily.
And Anonymous (no name, eh ?) It is a about a lot more then see scores. It allows business to play on a level playing field... It allows people like me, an IT worker living in a rural area to have access to my companies resources through a VPN to complete work at home (who wants to spend more then 40 hours at the office?) I could go on, but I will leave it at those two points.