Island fibre project leaps ahead

A small Grand Manan company may be a step closer to its owners' dream of "bringing the Fundy Isles into the 21st century," with Crave Technologies' June 12 announcement that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with NB Power. "This agreement will bring benefits not only to NB Power and Crave Technologies Ltd., but will turbo charge the connectivity across the [Fundy] Isles.
This project takes a giant leap forward today," a media release states. The project could benefit Grand Manan, Campobello and Deer Island.
The company provides fixed wireless and fibre to the home services on the island under the trade name "Proximity Fiber." It was incorporated in 2009 and is run by Howard and Rebecca Small with partner Don Leclair. They currently serve 600 homes, and last year saw the completion of two phases of fibre optic cable installation, which now stretches from North Head to just past Ingalls Head Road. Because of the telecom rules and agreements in place, their fibre cable service is currently limited to the main road installation and homes within a single small drop cable's distance from it. Other homes with a good line of sight are served by wireless. Crave's future expansion goals include the engineering and construction that would allow the company to serve more side roads with fibre.
The new undersea cable that was installed last summer by NB Power contains fibre optic strands -- a default component of the cable construction -- so NB Power was open to agreements with companies wanting to use it. Agreements are not exclusive. "Anybody can go to the table," says Rebecca Small. "We've likened [the cable] to an extension cord that's been run but not hooked up to power yet." With the signing of the memorandum of understanding, they can go on to discuss contracts; they hope to finalize the access agreement in the next six months.
Another big step for the company was its application this month to the Canadian Radio television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Rural Broadband Fund. The CRTC has set a standard of broadband speeds of at least 50 mbps download and 10 mbps upload and access to unlimited data and says that while 85.7% of Canada has access to this level of Internet, only 40.8% of rural communities do. The program, which offers $750 million over five years, aims to close this "digital divide" by funding projects to build or upgrade access and transport infrastructure to provide fixed and mobile wireless broadband services in eligible underserved areas.
Since its inception, Crave has avoided government funding, preferring to seek independent investment partners. While the company does have a behind the scenes investor, the picture changed this spring with Bell Aliant's application to the fund for the same area. The village council voted to write a letter of support for that application. Crave's owners had to make the decision, Howard Small says, to apply as well or to continue trying to compete as they have been. "It would have made the playing field very uneven," he says. With the deadline extended, they sent their own application this month, which the village also supported. "It was quite an undertaking for a company our size," he adds, describing wading through the 53 page application guide. "There are a lot of metrics" and scoring criteria, such as fixed wireless versus fibre to home. The Smalls say the latter is the "tech of the future." Fibre optic cables "don't go bad" and are more robust and stable.
"Their application includes funding to finish Grand Manan as well as serve Deer Island, Campobello, Letete and L'Etang, and many people in those communities have expressed interest. It could be up to a two year project if approved. The agreement with NB Power is not contingent upon receiving the CRTC funding, but they believe it will strengthen their case for that funding. Noting that results from last October's round of applications have not been announced yet, Howard says they may have to wait months to a year.
The coronavirus pandemic may put a focus on a prompt decision. Rebecca Small says she has heard from many people in Charlotte County whose Internet has been inadequate for working or studying at home, including some families who weren't able to do any online schooling with their children. "A lot of families suffered," she says. They and other providers "have seen huge bandwidth usage" in the province. Howard Small says their data consumption has "easily doubled, but our network is holding up quite well. A few nights were nail biters, pushing our wireless links to the maximum." They also say that although school is out, people on summer vacations seem to spend even more time online.
Crave continues to sign up new customers on Grand Manan. The company gets inquires from far afield, including urban areas that one might expect to be better connected. Howard says partner Don Leclair, a software developer, has an employee in Ottawa, Ont., and one on Grand Manan, and they find Crave's service better than that in Ottawa.
Discussions will continue with NB Power, whose representatives Rebecca Small describes as "phenomenal." Howard Small thinks the Fundy Isles "probably have the worst Internet in New Brunswick." He says, "We want to correct that. From the outset we want this to be as beneficial to communities as possible and to show that NB Power and private companies can work together for the betterment of New Brunswick."
For more information, visit Proximity Fiber.