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2009-09-02 -The Strait Reporter - Seaside Communications updates the public

DANA MACPHAIL, The Strait Reporter

GLENVILLE- Residents in Inverness County anxiously awaiting the arrival of high-speed internet got an indication of when the service would be available to them at a recent Seaside meeting.

Seaside High-Speed held a meeting on Friday evening at the Glenora Distillery in Glenville to hear from the public and answer some burning questions.
“People want answers. We realized that a little late and now we’ve started to provide them. So it’s very frustrating both for the customer and ourselves to not know how progress is going. Things take time and it’s like an iceberg, 80 per cent of what we do is unseen in the development process, the design, the permitting,” Adam Conter, Seaside’s Director of Communications, said following the meeting.

During last week’s gathering, Conter announced that in one month, service will be extended to the communities of Margaree Forks, Fordview, Scotsville, Margaree Indian Reserve 25, Broad Cove, Dunvegan, Rear Dunvegan, St. Rose, South West Margaree, Coady Road, Upper Margaree, Gillisdale, Route 395, East Margaree, Ainslie Point, North Ainslie, Scottsville, McCormick Corner, Mason Point, West Lake Ainslie, East Lake Ainslie, Cloverhouse, Inverness, Inverside, Deep Dale, Strathlorne and Foot Cape.

Seaside is projecting it will be extending service to the communities of Centreville, East Skye Glen, Nevada Valley, Skye Glen, Mabou Harbour, Miramichi, Rankinville, Glendyer, Glendyer Station, Hillsboro, North Highlands, Glenora Falls and Glencoe Mills by September 18.

Finally, on Friday September 8, high-speed service should be available for residents of River Centre, Upper Glencoe and Upper Southwest Mabou.

As of last Friday (August 28), the service is available in Alpine Ridge, Brook Village, Southwest Ridge, Glenville, Harbourview, Judique Intervale, Judique North, Little Judique, Maryville and Port Hood Mines.
Glenora Distillery received its first high-speed signal about three weeks ago and is counting it as a boon to their business.

“I think now, people expect it. High-speed internet is not an amenity now, it’s a necessity and people expect you to have it. It’s not something that they might find, they think they’re definitely going to find it,” noted Donnie Campbell, whose business card reads ‘Whisky Ambassador.’

Earlier visitors often commented on the slow speed of the internet connection but that is not the case anymore, Campbell notes. The distillery has already begun promoting the site as a location with high-speed internet access.
Seaside will be holding more meetings for the rest of the province as the service continues to roll out. Conter said efforts are being made to conduct public meetings in Richmond County in early October in Rocky Bay and Grand River.
He said he is looking forward to the next few months as the company works to meet its end of 2009 deadline to provide high-speed access to the four Strait area counties which comprise Zone 3, as well as Pictou, Cumberland, Colchester, Cape Breton and Victoria counties. Eastlink and OmniGlobe Networks were contracted to deliver service access to the remainder of the province.

The project is part of the government’s Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia Initiative. When completed at the end of the year the entire province is expected to have high-speed access.