Island high-speed taking longer than planned

The P.E.I. government has pushed the deadline to provide high-speed internet access to all Islanders until next year.

Last fall, government officials said high-speed would be available across the province by the end of 2009, andsigned an $8.2 million contract with Bell Aliant to do the work.

But as of last Friday, 25 out of 114 communities on P.E.I. were still listed as "planned," while another half a dozen were listed as "in progress."

All of the necessary equipment is in place, said Neil LeClair, the minister in charge of rural development.

"Now they have to activate it activate all the infrastructureto find out what areas they can't reach," he said.

About 21,000 homes or businesses across the province have been activated to date, LeClair said. However, up to 1,000 homes will have to continue to rely on dial-up service until the new year, he said. "It's very minimal."

It's unclear how long it will take before the remaining customers have high-speed access.

Aliant "is working as fast as it can," spokesman Bruce Howatt said.

LeClair refused to speculate on a timeline: "No, I'm not going to get into [that] because of the statement we made a little while ago, by the end of 2009. I'm not going to put a date on it."

Last November, Premier Robert Ghiz said: "We're now going to see internet services provided all over the Island, to virtually every Islander by the end of 2009."

Taking high-speed internet to Islanders across the province was something the government promised in the last election.

P.E.I. will be the first province in Canada to have high-speed province-wide, said LeClair.