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How did you get from having the goal to starting the work?
Where was the pilot project and who ran it?
What companies submitted proposals to serve zones 1 to 6?
How were they evaluated, and who won the contracts?
How much will it cost?
How did you get from having the goal to starting the work?
Used many methods including going door to door to find our exactly which civic addresses were unserved
Divide the unserved civic addresses into seven roughly equal zones
Put out a call for private companies to run a pilot project, choose the technology, run the project
Put out a call for private companies to serve the rest of the province except for unserved areas of HRM
Put out a separate call for HRM
Where was the pilot project and who ran it?
A 15 km radius in Cumberland County (Zone 1) from Tidnish to Port Howe. Seaside Communications won the tender to run the pilot project.
What companies submitted proposals to serve zones 1 to 6?
Aliant, EastLink, Barrett, Netbundle, Seaside, and Xitell.
How were they evaluated, and who won the contracts?
A team of experts and representatives from provincial and federal governments and the community used these criteria to choose the best companies to provide the service for each zone.- corporate references
- experience in the field
- technical approach and approach to project
- ability to keep the service going within the zone
- business model
- ability to complete the project by the end of 2009
- cost
Seaside Communications was awarded zones 1 to 4. EastLink was awarded for zones 5 and 6. OmniGlobe Networks was awarded zone 7.
EastLink
In business for 37 years, EastLink started in 1971 as Bragg Communications in Amherst, Nova Scotia. Bragg Communications moved to Halifax, and became EastLink in 1998 when it merged with Halifax Cablevision. Originally a cable television company, it expanded to include digital cable, telephone and high-speed Internet.
OmniGlobe Networks
OmniGlobe Networks Inc. is a Canadian global telecommunications company based in Montreal. The company has wireless Internet projects in a number of countries. It has offices in the United Kingdom, Ontario and Quebec, and is expanding into British Columbia and Nova Scotia.Seaside Communications
In business for 29 years, Seaside Communications started as Seaside Cable TV Ltd. in 1979. It was renamed Seaside Communications when it expanded its services to include telephone, digital cable, and high-speed Internet.
How much will it cost?
The entire initiative is expected to cost $74.5-million shared as follows:
Provincial government-- $19.6 million. Federal contribution - $14.5 million The shared cost to the companies will be $40.4 million.
