Free public Wi-Fi on its way for downtown Halifax, Dartmouth

Parts of downtown Halifax and Dartmouth are set to gain access to free public Wi-Fi after council awarded a five-year contract to Bell Aliant.

READ MORE: Will Halifax and Dartmouth soon see free public Wi-Fi downtown?

The contract, awarded on Tuesday, amounts to $2.6 million over five years and will see the company make wireless Internet available using its own fibre network in several locations. The Halifax and Dartmouth waterfronts, Grand Parade, Halifax North Memorial Public Library, the Halifax Central Library, and the Alderney Gate Library were shown as the proposed project areas in a report that went before council recommending the contract.

The Wi-Fi will be available outside and inside the central and north memorial libraries, but only inside the Alderney library.

Public Wi-Fi sparks lengthy debate at City Hall

After two hours of debate, council narrowly voted 9-8 in favour of the contentious proposal. Councillors Lindell Smith, Lorelei Nicoll, Sam Austin, Bill Karsten, David Hendsbee, Richard Zurawski, Stephen Adams, and Matt Whitman still voted against the free Wi-Fi.

Concern was raised by some councillors over the cost of the contract, especially due to the relatively small area receiving coverage. District 5 Coun. Sam Austin questioned how much having free Wi-Fi would benefit the city on an economic level, adding the Wi-Fi appeared to be targeted at tourists.

“We have a service that is not going to cover a lot of area and is hard to justify for the cost,” Austin said.

District 12 Coun. Richard Zurawski said he had issues with a private company owning the network, calling it a “bad idea,” and said there was also issue with the amount being paid.

“It’s too much money for too little,” he said. “We’re dressing up a sow’s ear as a silk purse.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's too much money for too little," he said. "We're dressing up a sow's ear as a silk purse."

WATCH: Public WI-Fi could hit Dartmouth and Halifax waterfronts by summer

1:43 Public WI-Fi could hit Dartmouth and Halifax waterfronts by summer

Though originally expressing concern over the cost and the small footprint for the free Wi-Fi, District 7 Coun. Waye Mason said if people want to get Wi-Fi on a larger scale, the municipality would have to start somewhere.

Halifax’s chief administrative officer Jacques Dubé called the contract the city’s “beachhead,” and said if free public Wi-Fi isn’t looked at now, the municipality wouldn’t see it for another three or four years.

District 14 Coun. Lisa Blackburn also spoke in favour of the contract, arguing against Austin’s concern of targeting tourists.

“We have to walk before we can run,” Blackburn said. “Yes it’s a very limited area right now, but I think this is going to service more than just the tourists that are rolling off the cruise ships.”

READ MORE: Halifax, Dartmouth looking to add free public Wi-Fi access in 2015

Mayor Mike Savage also expressed concern over the coverage area in relation to price, but acknowledged the municipality should still get the free Internet, and catch up to other cities.

“It’s like saying, ‘look I have a post-it note, have you guys seen these before,’ but that doesn’t necessarily mean we shouldn’t do it,” Savage said. “The best time to do something may be six years ago, the second best time is now.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's like saying, 'look I have a post-it note, have you guys seen these before,' but that doesn't necessarily mean we shouldn't do it," Savage said. "The best time to do something may be six years ago, the second best time is now."

Bringing free public Wi-Fi to the downtown has taken a few years, with Halifax originally exploring the option in 2014. A tender for the project was put out in December 2014, which resulted in Bell Aliant, Telus, Fresh Group Atlantic and IBM expressing interest.

Fresh Group didn’t meet the requirements and Telus later withdrew from the competition. Eventually, IBM and Bell Aliant were put through an evaluation process, ranking each company’s proposal on criteria including service access and use, and cost.

City staff said in the report that went before council Tuesday that Bell Aliant’s cost was about $1 million less than IBM’s.

The total cost per year is estimated at $450,000, with a one-time installation cost of $350,000.

READ MORE: Patients call on Capital Health to install Wi-Fi in hospitals

Bell Aliant is now expected to “implement the public Wi-Fi services on a site-by-site basis” with its initial focus being on Grand Parade and the Halifax Waterfront in preparation for this summer’s Canada 150 celebration and the Tall Ships festival.