Opposition MLAs go online with high-speed internet petition

Opposition MLAs believe they are tapping into a groundswell of frustration among Islanders with the launch of an online petition calling for better internet access. 

The petition, launched Friday, calls for "proper high-speed internet access for Islanders" and requests government take "immediate action to address the poor state of high-speed internet in many areas of the province."

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"Islanders are frustrated. They're concerned about it," said Kensington-Malpeque MLA Matthew MacKay. "We've got to keep hammering at this and the more people that are in support, the more traction we'll get with government."

MacKay said the petition had been signed by hundreds of people by mid-day Tuesday, and that he personally received 40 emails over the weekend on the subject. 

"It's hurting people every day and it's certainly hurting rural Islanders," he said.

Federal, provincial projects to improve internet access

PC MLAs have been hammering government for a copy of the multi-million dollar contract the province signed with Bell Aliant in 2008 to provide internet service.

In an email to CBC late Tuesday afternoon, the province said it could not release the contract unless a legislative committee makes a formal request under the Legislative Assembly Act.

Economic Development and Tourism Minister Heath MacDonald said he would ask the standing committee to consider making that formal request.

"Once this request is received, I will notify Bell Aliant that I intend to release the document within 14 days," he said.

Bell Aliant provided an email to CBC in which it said that the 2008 agreement with the province stipulated broadband speeds of 1.5 Mbps. The company also said its Fibe network, then called Fibre-OP, is available to 70 per cent of Island households and "offers speeds up to 1 gigabyte."

The email also says that hard wired high-speed networks reach approximately 99.8% of P.E.I. households and that the remaining households can get wireless internet.

Earlier this year, the federal government announced a different internet project. It will spend $1.6 million to upgrade internet access to 12,000 homes on P.E.I. That project is slated to be complete next year.

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But MacKay said that's not good enough.

"This isn't something new," he said. "[The federal and provincial governments] should both be working to get this sorted out and give Islanders high speed internet."

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