HALIFAX — Develop Nova Scotia, a Crown corporation responsible for advancing high-speed Internet access projects across the province, today announced several existing contracts for Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative projects have been expanded, which will result in an additional 5,600 homes and businesses having access to high-speed Internet connections.
(This is the second time in recent months that Develop Nova Scotia has announced scope expansions to existing project contracts, having made a similar announcement in November.)
The projects associated with the new scope expansions announced today are in western Nova Scotia and the South Shore and Annapolis/Hants areas. The contracts are with pre-qualified Internet service providers Mainland Telecom, Bell Canada and Cross Country Communications.
The Nova Scotia Internet Funding Trust (NSIFT) is investing $29 million in these contract extension projects, with leveraged funds of $8 million from other levels of government and the private sector. It is expected all homes and businesses covered by these extensions will have improved network access by the end of 2023. Timelines for access to improved connections will vary by community and will be further refined by providers within the next several months, says Develop Nova Scotia’s press release.
Since the first Internet for Nova Scotia Initiative projects were announced in February 2020, approximately 31,000 of a total of 87,200 homes and businesses already have the network in place to provide new or improved high-speed Internet, says the press release. The total investment to date of $163 million by the province through NSIFT has leveraged $137 million of additional funding, of which $118 million is from the private sector.
All projects approved to date for funding provide at least target speeds required by the CRTC (50 Mbps/10 Mbps for wired, 25 Mbps/5 Mbps for wireless, with a demonstrated plan to reach 50 Mbps), says the release.
A backgrounder on the scope expansions announced today can be found here.
