What is broadband? What is high-speed?
When will I get high-speed service?
How will I know when my area gets service?
How do I get ready for high-speed access?
What structures must be built to deliver wireless broadband to rural Nova Scotia?
Can bad weather affect my service?
Can anything in my house interfere with the signal?
What is broadband? What is high-speed?
Broadband gives you high-speed access to the Internet. You are automatically connected to the Internet when your computer is turned on. Broadband is a larger connection so that more data can get through. Everything you do on the Internet is about 15 times faster than on dial-up and leaves your telephone line free.
When will I get high-speed service?
The deadline for the Broadband for Rural NS initiative is the end of 2009. Everyone will have access by then.
There are no specific dates yet. Before towers and poles can be built, companies must find suitable sites for towers and poles or lease space on existing ones, lease or buy the land, and meet all planning and construction regulations first.
Once this is done, subscribers all across Nova Scotia will be hooked up continuously over the next two years. There is no guarantee that everyone in a particular area will get access to high-speed at the same time.
You will get service when the signal can reach your home or building. People living in the same area may get service at different times because of the way signals travel and because of the rugged landscape. Even though you can see a tower, the signal may not be able to get to your building.
People who can get service from existing towers will have access to it first. Others will get access as new poles and towers are put in place.
Everyone will have access by the end of 2009.
How will I know when my area gets service?
There will be ads and articles in your local newspaper. You may get a flyer in your mailbox. If you have filled the contact form on your service provider’s website, you will be notified by e-mail when you can subscribe.
For Cumberland, Colchester, Pictou, Antigonish, Guysborough, Inverness, Richmond, Victoria and Cape Breton counties contact Seaside Communications.
Click http://www.seasidehighspeed.com/
E-mail info@seaside.ns.ca
Call 1-888-965-5511
For Lunenburg, Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth, Digby, Annapolis, Kings and Hants counties contact EastLink.
Click www.eastlink.ca/rural_broadband/
Call 1-888-345-1111
For rural areas in the Halifax Regional Municipality contact OmniGlobe
Click www.omniglobebroadband.com
Call 1-888-365-OMNI (6664)
How do I get ready for high-speed access?
If you have no experience with computers or the Internet, you can test drive high-speed at your nearest C@P site. There are over 200 sites across Nova Scotia where you can drop in and try out the Internet for a reasonable cost. In some cases there is no cost. Look for the signs for C@P on the highway or try your library. C@P sites are listed at
http://www.nscap.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=41.
If you do have a computer, each of the service providers have information on their websites for potential subscribers to follow:
Instructions for EastLink are at http://eastlink.ca/rural_broadband/system/index.asp
Instructions for Seaside subscribers are at www.seasidehighspeed.com/index.php?pid=9
If you don’t know who you service provider is, just go to the map at http://www.gov.ns.ca/econ/broadband/docs/Broadband_For_Rural_Nova_Scotia-Zone_Map.pdf to find out.
What structures must be built to deliver wireless broadband to rural Nova Scotia?
The whole project may need up to 500 structures. Many of them are already in place. Others will need to be built. Most of those will be 25-metre poles. The rest will be radio antenna towers ranging from 30 to 70 metres high.
Click April 3 Project UpdateCan bad weather affect my service?
It is rare. Severe ice storms may cause problems.
Can anything in my house interfere with the signal?
If you have older devices in your home that operate at 900 Mhz, like cordless phones and baby monitors, you may find that they interfere with your wireless internet.