Article contentArticle contentAlternativeArticle contentThe Rural Internet Project is offering a VoIP landline alternative for households and businesses that have fibre Internet through them, which MacEachern has recently switched to.Article contentThe municipality has been working to replace all of the old copper phone lines with a modern fibre network. Warden Robert Parker said the goal is within reach.Article content“We’re in the final stretch now,” he said.Article content“When this project first started for us in 2016, we wanted three things: high-speed internet for everyone, high-quality internet, and for that all to be available at a reasonable price. We have met those last two goals, and now we are finishing up down in the Merigomish area.Article content“By the end of this fall, internet should finally be available to a high 90 per cent of everyone in the county. And if someone ends up out of reach of the fibre, we will find a way to make it reach them.”Article contentParker estimated the cost of the project to be around $93 million. About $44 million of that cost has come from grants from other levels of government, with the rest of the money being borrowed.Article contentArticle content“You can think of this like a business, and I know business,” Parker said.Article content“I was in business for 50 years, and I learned that you don’t make a profit in your first year. There are all kinds of initial costs, and your income will be lower as you build up customers. But you have to accept that loss, and we have to make this investment. I believe that by 2028, we’re going to break even operation cost-wise, and the decades afterwards will show us that return on our investment.”Article contentArticle contentPolice investigateArticle contentIn an Aug. 7 news release, the RCMP said several detachments across Nova Scotia were investigating recent reports of copper wire theft and the resulting damage to infrastructure.Article contentColchester County officers learned that telecommunications lines in two different areas were cut between July 28 and Aug. 4, while Cumberland and Hants County members reported similar incidents on Aug. 4.Article contentThese thefts have resulted in power, phone, and internet outages in the affected areas, as well as damage to telecommunications lines, power lines, and electrical transformers.Article contentArticle contentThat release followed one from June 29 where Pictou County officers were investigating multiple reports of copper theft, which led to damage to safety-related infrastructure at railway crossings.Article contentOn June 10, 17, and 22, officers responded to reports of damage to equipment at railway crossings in rural parts of Pictou County. The RCMP said the damage appeared to have been done deliberately as part of attempts to steal copper from the electrical systems.Article contentRCMP across Nova Scotia continue to respond to reports of theft of copper and the resulting damage to buildings and infrastructure.Article contentIn an email, RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Carlie McCann confirmed that proactive patrols, information from witnesses, good surveillance video, and timely reporting have allowed officers to arrest and charge several people and seize items used to steal copper.Article contentAnyone with information that will support these investigations, including scrap dealers who may have accepted parts that came from this equipment, is asked to reach out to Pictou County District RCMP at 902-485-4333.Article contentTo remain anonymous, contact Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), submit a secure web tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca, or use the P3 Tips app.Article content
Pictou County Rural Internet Project continues as copper wire thefts increase
