Author: Colleen Gander

Rural Communities in British Columbia now have a faster runway to accessible broadband connectivity, with the announcement that Roel Coert has officially taken on the role of i-VALLEY Vice President, B.C.

Roel Coert is one of Canada’s foremost experts in telecom technologies, Open Access broadband,
infrastructures and telecom operations. He has designed and managed networks in a dozen or more cities and townships in the province.

i-VALLEY is a not-for-profit association currently building Canada’s largest municipal rural broadband network in Nova Scotia. The alliance with Roel is a “bridging of Canada,” according to i-VALLEY President Terry Dalton.

“We have worked with Roel on rural broadband in the past, and we are delighted that he will be joining us to help BC communities connect with the global Internet,” stated Mr. Dalton. “Roel is one of Canada’s most experienced and successful network planners, with an exemplary grasp of community networks, which are now urgently needed in today’s pandemic crises.”

“I am looking forward to combining my provincial knowledge with the power of the i-VALLEY team,” stated Mr. Coert. “It is vital to plug our rural communities into the global network now that COVID has altered everyone’s ability to interact in person. Even before COVID, most of the world’s economic growth was happening online; now, an online connection is an essential tool to enable families and businesses to obtain services like healthcare and economic sustainability.”

Roel Coert and i-VALLEY have developed programs that can quickly design rural networks, develop financial plans, arrange to finance and implement the network. “Rural areas have the advantage of treating their networks like utilities,” said Mr. Dalton, “financing them over 30 years just like roads or electric power. Future-proofing an accessible network is the key, and we are looking forward to working in BC with Roel.”

Roel Coert founded open access networks in communities such as the cities of Coquitlam (QNet), New Westminster (BridgeNet), and Campbell River (CR Advantage). These networks involved community access through fibre and wireless structures, with multiple competitive service providers and a range of network plans and financial models. Roel has also worked in Bamfield, Kamloops, Delta, Kelowna, Chilliwack, the Township of Langley, and the City of Port Moody. He has led the TELUS team to provide fibre-to-the-home deployment and has been instrumental in the success of multi-million-dollar projects abroad.

Mr. Coert retains his role as President of Go4objectives Ltd., based in Lions Bay, BC.

For further information, please contact:

Barry Gander
Co-Founder, i-VALLEY
Barry.Gander@i-valley.ca
604 767 7498

Roel Coert
Vice President, i-VALLEY BC
Roel.Coert@i-valley.ca

Press Release
For Immediate Release
August 31, 2020
Pictou County Begins Network Construction
PICTOU, NS – The Municipality of Pictou County (MOPC) has begun construction on phase one of its rural internet project.
MOPC Council recently approved $11 million to fund the first phase of its rural internet project that will see residents in the areas of Lyons Brook, Hardwood Hill, Abercrombie, and Granton have access to high-speed internet.
“The COVID pandemic both highlighted the need for the network, and slowed down the start of our construction,” said Warden Robert Parker. “We had many urgent matters to attend to, to deal with the pandemic. Now, we are able to get the network underway.”
Municipality of Pictou County CAO Brian Cullen described the network design as a ‘fibre-rich’ plan, with extensive use of fibre optic cable to provide service to residents: “This will provide additional future-proofing of the network and give us the ability to better serve our community. When the network is complete, it will meet or exceed the CRTC guidelines for directly connected speeds of 10 Megabits per second (Mbps) up and 50 Mbps down, and for wireless/satellite speeds of 5 Mbps up 25 Mbps down.”
This municipally led network combines revenue sharing and world-class quality with competitive Open Access pricing and choice. Public and private sectors will combine strengths for the quick delivery of a network that sparks new businesses and social initiatives, according to i-VALLEY President Terry Dalton, which provides municipal oversight on the project.
The Municipality of Pictou County and i-VALLEY chose a consortium of providers led by Nova Communications, a division of ROCK Networks to perform engineering planning and network construction, with NCS Networks being the lead Internet service provider.
“The COVID crises showed how much the world relies on digital networking for information and a sense of community. Rural residents see this as a fundamental utility – like electricity or roads,” said Warden Parker. “We have heard from so many people over the years that this is important to them, and now the first step in underway.” The municipality has recently obtained Federal Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission status as a “telecommunications carrier”. Construction of other phases of the network will follow the completion of Phase One. Information will be posted to the MOPC website.
For more information, contact:
Sueann Musick
Communications Officer
Municipality of Pictou County
902-485-2238
sueann.musick@munpict.ca

Barry Gander
Co-Founder
i-VALLEY
613-340-0701
barry.gander@i-valley.ca

The Fiber to the Premise knowledge center is your one-stop source for information about Corning’s array of solutions and products.

https://www.corning.com/fiber-to-the-premise/worldwide/en/home/knowledge-center.html#whitepapers 

https://www.capebretonpost.com/news/provincial/digital-divide-gap-between-canadas-rural-urban-internet-speeds-widens-during-covid-19-485368/ 

cape breton post

Halifax has been rated as one of the top 25 tech cities in North America, according to CBRE.  CBRE Group, Inc. is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, with 2019 revenues of $23.9 billion and more than 100,000 employees.

The study reviewed cities based on their ability to attract and grow tech talent. Thirteen metrics (each weighted by relative significance to job creation and innovation) were used to measure market depth, vitality, and attractiveness.

Halifax had more than 13,000 people working in its tech sector in 2019, beating much larger U.S. cities such as Tulsa.  Halifax was in 12^th place, joined in the Top 25 by fellow Canadian cities like Waterloo, Quebec City, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, with Toronto entering Top Ten.  The six Canadian cities thus made up one-quarter of the Top 25 list.  This is hitting well above our weight, as Canada’s population is only one-tenth that of the U.S., and we should therefore have been expected to have only two or three cities in the CBRE list.

Congratulations from i-VALLEY to Halifax Mayor Savage and the organizations that have contributed to this win, including Dalhousie University, Digital Nova Scotia, the tech firms in the city, and all of the rest of us who have contributed talent to make the Halifax possible!  It is a good day for Nova Scotia.