About 10 per cent of NBers can't get Aliant high-speed Internet

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FREDERICTON - Hundreds of rural residents have joined a petition calling on the provincial government to give Bell Aliant more money to expand high-speed Internet access.

Petition organizer Ken Crawford of Muniac, north of Wicklow, said he has the names of 1,300 supporters for expanding the high-speed service.

He said he would like to gather another 2,000 names before submitting the petition again to Aliant and government.

Crawford said he's approached Aliant with a preliminary petition listing 120 names, but Aliant turned down the petition down.

"After that, I decided to start an interest group on the Internet's social utility, Facebook, and it has 1,251 members. I hope that serves as a wake-up call for Aliant because there are a lot of unhappy people because they cannot have high-speed service."

An Aliant spokeswoman said it all comes down to a matter of dollars and cents. Isabelle Robinson said 90 per cent of the Internet users in the province have access to high-speed Internet or broadband services.

She said the remaining 10 per cent are those living in rural and remote areas.

The problem with high-speed Internet access in rural areas is that there are fewer people living in wider areas, where technology is limited and expensive, she said.

The digital subscriber line (DSL) and the necessary software and hardware can cost around $300,000, Robinson said. She said current technology can only serve a four-kilometre radius.

From 2003-06, Aliant expanded high-speed service to 300 communities in New Brunswick at a cost of $44.5 million.

The money was raised through a partnership involving Aliant and the federal and provincial governments.

The 10 per cent who don't have high-speed access live primarily in thinly populated rural areas, Robinson said.

A Cross Creek computer programmer said rural residents wouldn't be feeling the pinch if a little foresight been exercised a few years ago.

David Brooks lives in a community of about 50 people not far from the Village of Stanley, where high-speed Internet service is available.

"We realize Aliant cannot provide high-speed service in the middle of nowhere," he said. "Unfortunately, Aliant and the province didn't have the foresight years ago to lay the infrastructure necessary for high-speed service."

Brooks said rural residents could opt for satellite service, but it can be expensive.

"It's time we take a stand," said Mike McCaffrey of Ripples.

He wants rural residents who want or need high-speed Internet service to march on the provincial legislature.

"This should be an election issue," he said. "It's up to our government to provide equality of services. It's the government that should provide the funding so Aliant can reach rural communities."

McCaffrey said most rural areas don't have high-speed Internet service because government money ran out before the job was completed in 2006.

"There's very little being done to grow our rural communities, and this lack of service is holding people back in their jobs and business expansions," he said.