In a press conference held shortly before last Christmas, Business New Brunswick minister Greg Byrne reaffirmed their commitment to bring affordable high speed Internet access to the entire province in 18 months.

No specifics were given, although New Brunswick already has 90% broadband availability from high speed cable and ADSL providers. This is thanks to a similar commitment put forth in 2003 by Premier Bernard Lord's government and Aliant.

The achievement is no small feat; in 2007 the Center for American Progress recognized New Brunswick as one of three places in the world where rural broadband is done right.

Coming from a telecom background, I'm pretty excited about this. Bridging this final digital divide will bring more Atlantic Canadians into the global conversation. There is just so many government services, online businesses and educational resources on the Internet nowadays that many users now consider high speed always-on Internet access to be as crucial as hydro or water.

If things go as planned, this will make New Brunswick not only a broadband penetration leader in Canada, but in the world.