N.L. critic wants better rural internet access

An opposition critic is calling on the provincial government to improve access to high-speed internet across the province.

Liberal MHA Jim Bennett said it's unacceptable that there aremore than 20 communities withoutsuch service in the rural district of St. Barbe that he represents.

He said the lack of access handicaps many businesses in his district on the Northern Peninsula.

Bennett said he receives complaints about it every day.

"I think where we are right now, this is an old government but we have a new minister and what can we do to move the ball forward more quickly?" he said.

Bennett has written to the ministerof business and rural development, Keith Hutchings,asking for better access to the internet.

"To me, it's what the telephone was 50 years ago," he said. "It used to be a luxury, now high-speed internet has taken on the status of the telephone."