The last curve ball has been thrown and Alberta's SuperNet will be fully operational later this year, officials say.
Despite missing two earlier deadlines to get the provincewide high-speed, high-capacity network up and running, the three parties involved in the project - the provincial government, Axia NetMedia Corp. and Bell Canada - fully expect that the latest target date will be met.
In the meantime, Bell Canada said it foresees no risk in forfeiting its $100-million performance bond on the project.
Bell was in danger of losing it earlier this year when the SuperNet failed to meet a Jan. 24, 2005, completion date, which was extended six months earlier for an additional half a year.
The entire network is now scheduled to be up and running by Sept. 30.
"I think that they (Bell and Axia) just have finally gotten all of their ducks in a row," says Alberta Restructuring and Government Efficiency Minister Luke Ouellette, who is now responsible for overseeing the project's implementation. "They finally understand how complex the program they're building is. It's the world's most extensive and innovative network of its kind."
"Right now we're happy with Bell and Axia, and I'm playing ball with them," he adds. "My main focus right now is getting this job done, getting the total network up and running."
The SuperNet will make Alberta one of North America's most wired jurisdictions by connecting schools, hospitals, libraries and government offices in 27 larger and 402 smaller communities across the province.
By April 30, all the rural communities in the extended area network, the 402 smaller communities across Alberta where high-speed connectivity and market competition are limited or nil, will be linked. By June 30, it's expected that the majority of government, health, library and educational facilities will be on the SuperNet.
But the SuperNet's deployment will also enable the so-called "last mile" connection, allowing businesses and individuals in remote communities to access high-speed connectivity through newly launched Internet service providers (ISPs).
According to Ouellette, interest is strong for the creation of new ISPs in remote parts of the province. "I will say there are a lot of people inquiring about people becoming ISPs. Right now, high-speed Internet is just about nil in rural Alberta."
Axia, which has a 10-year contract with the provincial government to provide access and network management services for the SuperNet, says the massive undertaking will bring new economic opportunities to rural Alberta.
"People will no longer feel the need to move to large centres," says Dawn Tinling, Axia's vice-president of communications and human resources. "They'll be able to conduct their business right there in rural Alberta and have the quality of life of living out there, but they will be connected to the world.
"It's a very unique business model. Previously, it was very expensive for private carriers to serve the small communities, but by having the government build the infrastructure, it allows for private individuals to purchase bandwidth to serve the residents."
Business, meanwhile, is hopeful that the latest cutoff date to power up the whole network will be a solid deadline.
"A lot of our members in the much smaller communities of Alberta were struggling with getting high-speed Inter- net access," says Corinne Pohlmann, director of provincial affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
"Many felt that the delay in getting the SuperNet up and running has had an impact on their business."
The CFIB, with 9,200 members in Alberta broken down in an almost 50-50 split between rural and urban elements, says the SuperNet was not an issue that it heard much about from its members until this year.
"The expectation was that it would all be in place by now. It was paid for and promised, and that patience was wearing thin. Hopefully, now it's back on track," says Pohlmann.
The provincial government is spending $193 million to build the SuperNet.
"We think that the idea is sound, but the application and the implementation is flawed," says Mo Elsalhy, innovation and science critic for the provincial Liberal Opposition. "The target (date) was not met twice."
While Elsalhy says the Liberals realize the benefits and merits of linking rural and remote areas, he questions why Telus wasn't a major player in the deal.
"We don't have anything against Bell as a company," says Elsalhy.
"But we reinvented the wheel, 75 per cent of the infrastructure was in place with a different company (Telus) when we entered into a contract (with Bell)."
Ouellette, however, says it came down to Bell coming up with the best tender when there was an open request for proposals.
But while there are questions and concerns over the delays in the SuperNet, Lynne Paradis, supervisor of learning for the Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division, has found that being on the SuperNet has opened up new doors for both staff and students.
The board, which also operates a kindergarten-to-Grade 12 school in Rocky Mountain House and a kindergarten-to-Grade 9 facility in Sylvan Lake, was one of the early SuperNet users, having been connected more than two years ago.
Before, if the school board wanted to hold a video conference with its Rocky Mountain House school, it was limited to a one-megabit network link.
But the quality wasn't the best and other computer network links - including e-mail and Internet activity - had to be shut down to allow the videoconference to proceed.
The SuperNet connection, though, allows everything to be done simultaneously, says Joseph Dealmeida, the division's information technology (IT) manager.
Paradis points to numerous SuperNet-enabled advantages, such as the ability to expand program offerings to Rocky Mountain House, where a limited number of students might not have warranted a course being made available; allowing students the option to take a videoconference version of a course in another timeslot if the local course doesn't fit into their timetable; and teachers being able to teach courses from one site to students in another.
Staff can also avail themselves of professional development opportunities, again via videoconferencing, without having to drive to another location hours away.
In addition, the Rocky Mountain House school files are now backed up in Red Deer, something the division wouldn't be able to do without the high-speed, high-capacity link.
But there are also downsides, Paradis and Dealmeida warn. Teachers have to be trained in videoconferencing and need to know about cameras, lighting and sounds aspects; not all spaces are appropriate for videoconference telecasts; and significant technical support is required.
However, both say that the technology has been a positive development despite the cost, time and challenges.
(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)
