FAQ

frequently asked questions

view the Industry Canada Broadband FAQ's here

 

 

 

 


Find Answers to Most Common Questions 

  1. What does "BRAND" stand for?

  2. What is broadband?

  3. How much faster is broadband than a dial-up connection?

  4. What are the benefits of broadband?

  5. Is High-Speed internet available to my home?

  6. Who was on the Cumberland BRAND Committee?

  7. What communities were involved in this proposal?

  8. Who can I contact if I want more information?

 

1. What does BRAND stand for?

BRAND stands for the Broadband for Rural and Northern Development Pilot Program. Industry Canada first introduced the BRAND Program in September 2002 as a first step to meeting the Government’s commitment of broadband access to all communities by 2005. The Pilot Program has been created to assist those communities that are currently without broadband access. Most often, improved access is necessary in First Nations, northern, rural and remote communities in order to provide services in the area of health and education, as well as to augment economic opportunities. These communities will receive priority and will be given financial assistance through two separate rounds for funding, each with a competitive call by Industry Canada for the submission of applications from interested communities throughout Canada.

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2. What is broadband?

Technical Definition - A high capacity, two way link between end user and access network suppliers capable of supporting full-motion interactive video applications. A minimum symmetrical speed of 1.5 megabits per second per individual user is currently required to support these applications.

Every Day Definition - High-speed internet, 2 way, always on and able to provide real time applications such as video. 

Source: The National Broadband Task Force

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3. How much faster is broadband than a dial-up connection?

A Broadband Comparison of Download Speeds

 

An email
5 k

Basic
web page
25 k

Complex
web page
500 k

Five
minute
song
5 Megs

Movie preview
30 Megs

Two-hour
movie
500 Megs

Dialup

1 sec.

10 sec.

90 sec.

15 min.

80 min.

20 hrs.

ISDN

<1 sec.

5 sec.

40 sec.

8 min.

40 min.

10 hrs.

Satellite

<1 sec.

<1 sec.

15 sec.

2 min.

15 min.

4 hrs.

DSL

<1 sec.

<1 sec.

7 sec.

1 min.

7 min.

2 hrs.

Cable*

<1 sec.*

<1 sec.*

4 sec.*

40 sec.*

4 min.*

70 min.*

Wireless

<1 sec.

<1 sec.

4 sec.

40 sec.

4 min.

70 min.

 * Cable modem speeds are dependent on the number of users per cable network node, because cable networks are shared by users in a neighborhood. Thus cable modem speeds can vary depending on how many users are online at once. The speeds indicated in the table are the highest typical speeds of cable networks deployed today.

 

Bits per Second

Time to Download 33 Volumes of
Encyclopedia
Britannica

9.6K modem

9,600

3.5 days

56K modem

56,000

14 hours

1.544 MBPS (T-1 line)

1,544,000

31 minutes

45 MBPS (T-3 line)

45,000,000

1 minute

155 MBPS (fiber optic)

155,000,000

18 seconds

622 MBPS (fiber "Optic Carrier" OC12)

622,000,000

4.8 seconds

2.4 GBPS (fiber "Optic Carrier" OC48)

2,400,000,000

1.2 seconds

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4. What are the benefits of broadband?

The broadband revolution has the potential to bring Canadians and Canadian communities new opportunities in a number of areas, including learning, health, business, and entertainment.

 Broadband benefits can include: 

  • Providing improved health care and home care services

  • Facilitating online and distance learning

  • Improving access to government services

  • Encouraging e-business with businesses implementing new broadband empowered applications and services

  • Encouraging e-commerce with businesses going online to sell products and services on the Internet and to share best practices

  • Improving the ability of citizens to participate in local, regional and national issues of interest

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5. Is High-Speed Internet available to my home? 

The completed business plan proposed a broadband solution for rural Cumberland County and identified specific communities that could receive broadband services. The nine areas which received broadband service are: Advocate, Joggins, Malagash, Parrsboro, Port Greville, Pugwash, River Hebert, Wallace and Wentworth.  You can contact Aliant to find out if your home or business is in a High-Speed area.

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6. Who was on the Cumberland BRAND Committee?

The Cumberland BRAND Committee: 

  • Kathy Langille, Councillor, District 4

  • Gerald Langille, Councillor, District 5

  • Ron Levy, CREDA Board/Business Representative      

  • Hollis Bartlett, Business/Technical Representative

  • Paul Seguin, Business/Technical Representative        

  • Aaron Embree, CREDA, IT Consultant

  • Kelly Millar, CREDA, Business Data Analyst     

  • Paul Hopper, CREDA Business Development Officer

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7. What communities were involved in this proposal? 

The Cumberland BRAND Committee had identified eight primary communities in rural Cumberland County as target areas for potential broadband implementation: Parrsboro, Advocate Harbour, River Hebert, Joggins, Wentworth, Pugwash, Wallace, and Malagash.  Port Greville was connected during the BRAND project bringing the total to nine locations that are now receiving high-speed Internet.

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8. Who can I contact if I want more information?

For more information on the Connecting Cumberland project, contact the
Cumberland Regional Economic Development Association
(902) 667-3638

For information about the Industry Canada BRAND Program:

www.broadband.gc.ca
 

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