Alberta's grand plan to link hundreds of communities to a high-speed SuperNet is so far behind schedule the province has warned Bell Canada to finish the job by fall or risk losing a $100-million performance bond.
"I think we're at the point right now where we're giving them ultimatums," Alberta Minister of Restructuring and Government Efficiency Luke Ouellette told The Canadian Press.
"There's comfort in it for me ... that we do have that $100-million performance bond."
SuperNet involves the installation of fibreoptic cables, electronic equipment and a number of towers and shelters for a broadband network that will link 4,200 libraries, schools, hospitals and provincial government offices in 429 communities. It's expected to use 7,800 kilometres of fibreoptic line.
The three-year project was to have been up and running by January. So far, figures provided by Ouellette's department show SuperNet is only operating in 46 communities - 11 per cent of the total.
Seven per cent of the 2,092 schools currently have a functioning SuperNet connection, along with five per cent of health sites and four of the 311 libraries.
Ouellette met recently with Bell officials to discuss an eight-month extension to complete the network. He said he wants the entire SuperNet project "lit up" by the end of September.
Bell Canada's regional president Stephen Wetmore said the company sees no problem with the ultimatum or the new deadline. Bell has said most of the construction has been completed and what remains is the testing.
"This is a very, very complex build," said Wetmore. "But Sept. 30 is a very realistic timeframe."
The province is investing $193 million in SuperNet, but Bell's costs have increased substantially. Last fall, the company announced that higher-than-expected construction costs had driven up its projected costs by 22 per cent to nearly $140 million.
Wetmore declined to discuss the company's latest cost estimate. Ouellette said the province's investment has not changed.
Ouellette said Bell has explained to him that there are "a whole bunch of tiny problems" the company will have no trouble fixing. Bell also plans to upgrade any areas of SuperNet that don't meet the required specifications, he said.
Bell has overcome a number of hurdles since SuperNet was announced in December 2000.
The company that won the contract, Bell Intrigna, was a partnership between Bell and Manitoba Telephone System. That ended when Bell became the sole owner under Bell West, which was then absorbed last August by the parent company, Bell Canada.
There have been at least four managers and a variety of CEOs attached to the project. There was also a lawsuit between Bell and a key partner in SuperNet, Axia NetMedia Corp.
