Certain areas of the province are now able to access free Wi-Fi again, at home, through your local library.

The Executive Director of @NS says they are relaunching a program that allows you to borrow a hotspot for a set period of time, thanks to an agreement with a Nova Scotia-based company, D3 Tech.

Tim Tucker says, it’s all about making the internet more accessible, with an idea that came out of the pandemic.

“When it was difficult to have a number of people in an enclosed area in the library using public access computers and other devices. So, we thought, how can we make this easier on people without creating more issues that have centered around the pandemic,” says Tucker.

He adds, they thought about a hot spot and started researching how they could do that.

“It wasn’t easy. Nothing like this existed that we were aware of, anyway,” says Tucker.

The program launched for one year, with an American company – it didn’t work out, but they are now trying it again.

What do you get?

There are 115 hotspots available for 40+ GBs every month, that will work where a cell signal is available and similar programs exist.

This includes the Annapolis Valley Regional Library, Colchester-East Hants Public Library, Cape Breton Regional Library, Cumberland Public Library, Eastern Counties Regional Library, Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library, South Shore Public Library and Western Counties Regional Library.

Up to 20 Wi-Fi capable devices can be connected at the same time including laptops, tablets, smartphones, eReaders and more.

Tucker says they hope the program will become permanent.

“It’s something we’re certainly hoping to do, especially if the demand is anywhere similar to what it was the last time. That, of course, will depend on funding going down the road,” says Tucker.

The project is supported by federal and provincial grants.

You can reach out to your local library for more information.