Cape Breton startup aims to provide reliable Wi-Fi to rural areas

Robert (Ky) Coombes is on a mission to bring Wi-Fi to the rural community of Port Morien in northeast Cape Breton.

Coombes started a company called Coastal Wireless in February. The Cape Breton University student's vision is to make reliable and affordable internet service accessible to rural areas in the region.

He told Jennifer Ludlow of CBC Radio's Maritime Noon it all started when his cousin in Port Morien complained about internet service in the area.

Their conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Why did you want to start a wireless internet company?

It wasn't so much starting the wireless internet company, that's just the way it went.

But people of Port Morien and even surrounding areas, they have an internet connection but it's not affordable. It's not fast and it cuts in and out.

So I looked it up one day because my cousin who lives there, she was complaining. And I said, 'This might actually be possible.' So I started the company, got the licence to try and see if it's possible.

How did it go from a conversation with your cousin to you saying, 'OK, yeah, I'm going to start this up myself'?

Like everything I do, it was 1 a.m., I was bored and I looked up how to register a business. I went and registered it and then I looked up what else I need to do and I just went step by step until I got to where I am now.

What exactly do you have to do to become a wireless internet service provider?

I thought it be a lot harder, but it actually isn't.

You just got to register a business, go to the CRTC and say I want to start selling telecoms.

They give you the licence and from there you have to get an internet connection from another provider, and then it's basically a glorified home internet, but you're sharing it to everyone.

Did you get your licence from the CRTC?

We got one of them, we're waiting on another at the moment, which should come within the next couple weeks.

Was that difficult to do?

It wasn't too hard, actually. The first licence is the BITS [Basic International Telecommunications Services] licence, so that's the basics of it.

From there you have to get your resellers', and that's what we're doing right now.

But it's actually pretty easy. I had to get an affidavit and I had to get notarized. I had a professor at CBU who's teaching me. She's a lawyer. I asked, 'Can you notarize this?' I was her first stamp.

Where exactly are you in terms of being able to deliver Wi-Fi to homeowners?

It depends on many factors.

I have to get an internet connection from our provider and that can take a while. The next thing is funding. It's a niche market. There's not much funding for the little guys like myself.

I'm trying to get an interest-free loan if we can or just go to a bank to get at typical loan.

Did you get the internet from a reseller yet?

We're in contact, but that's all I can say at the moment.

What else needs to be done right now to get there?

Pretty much it's infrastructure.

With the wireless internet, you need a tall place to beam the internet down.

So we're looking around in Port Morien, and I have a drone, so I'm there looking every day trying to find an area.

There's not many tall areas there, believe it or not.

It's probably going to require building a tower somewhere.

My cousin has property on one of the taller sides of Port Morien, so it wouldn't have to be too tall. But that can cost a lot of money.

Why are you looking at Port Morien, is it just because that's where you're hearing there's a lot of trouble?

Port Morien just looks like the sweet spot where there is a connection, but it's not too good. And I have an area where I can set up a tower if I have to and I'm there almost every week.

Why are some of the bigger tech companies like Bell and Rogers not already providing this service?

There's a variety of factors there. It's comes down to business and how they really want to operate.

Recently you spread the word about your business on social media. What has the response been like?

I did it at 1 a.m. like everything else, but we went and posted something on Facebook and some people thought it was a scam at first.

Then I realized I should put my name on it somewhere.

A lot of people are very interested in it. We have a newsletter that we're going to start up soon and we got about 50 emails on there, people looking to sign up.

Word of mouth is the biggest part out there.

Why is it important for people to be able to have inexpensive and reliable internet?

Internet is becoming an essential service these days. With COVID-19, as well, work from home, that's become a big popular thing.

And a lot of people from Port Morien are actually working from home, and having a good internet connection is allowing them to continue that job.

Other factors, like you can start businesses online now, so that's more money into that region. I think it's important.

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