With a successful broadband pilot project nearing completion, the province is ready to take the next step to make Nova Scotia the most connected area in all of North America. The province issued a request for proposals on June 21, inviting qualified service providers to bring broadband Internet service to all unserved areas of Nova Scotia. "The success of the pilot has shown that we can deliver reliable service to rural areas of the province at a reasonable cost," said Economic Development Minister Richard Hurlburt. "The next step is to get service providers involved so Nova Scotians get quality service at a price comparable to areas that already have broadband access."

With the lessons learned from the pilot and by investigating best practices from around the world, a business approach was developed, which will now be adapted for use across the province via the request for proposals process. To ensure the request for proposals offers a competitive opportunity to companies, the province has been broken down into seven zones, made up of one or more counties. Each zone is based on the number of unserved civic addresses.

Zone one includes Cumberland County and the original pilot area. As permitted in the initial request for proposal for the pilot area, the province will enter into negotiations with the current service provider, Seaside Communications, following the provincewide request for proposals to provide broadband service to zone one. Zone seven includes 45 rural communities within Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). This zone has been awarded under a separate procurement process managed by the municipality. The province will work with HRM to ensure that anyone without broadband will have access by the end of 2009...

See the full story at The Nova Scotia Business Journal