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The Nova Scotia government says Internet provider Eastlink has until the end of the year to offer rural broadband service to isolated pockets of the province that don’t already have high-speed service.KEVIN VAN PAASSEN/The Globe and Mail

The Nova Scotia government says Internet provider Eastlink has until the end of the year to offer rural broadband service to isolated pockets of the province that don't already have high-speed service.

Rural Development Minister Michel Samson says Eastlink's contract to get the work done expires in December and the government has been in discussions with the company to get to as close to 100 per cent as possible.

The provincial government promised in 2006 to provide all Nova Scotians with access to high-speed services.

Samson says 99 per cent of the province now has access to high-speed service.

A spokeswoman in his office says 1,034 homes and businesses – most in southwestern Nova Scotia and the Annapolis Valley – have approached Eastlink to get high-speed service.

Eastlink's website says the company is completing installations on a regular basis and only the most difficult installs remain.

The company was contracted to supply service to eight counties in the western half of the province.

Samson says in eastern Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton, Seaside Communications has managed to provide service to all but 10 households.

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