Liberal Opposition Leader Yvonne Jones says government has learned a lesson from the last phase of its broadband initiative and is moving forward with a request for proposals which is a more open process which hopefully will lead to broadband access for more communities in rural areas.

Jones says assurance will also have to be given to companies like Aliant that the proposals will be evaluated in a fair and transparent process. Aliant was left out of the last phase in favour of an unsolicited proposal which was presented to government by a group of companies led by Persona.

The Liberal Leader says she recognizes the importance of expanding broadband access in rural areas and what it means for the economic development of the province. "Being connected in this way makes us more competitive internationally and helps us overcome the geographic and climatic factors we are often faced with in this province."

Jones says she fears some communities that are on the fringes of the fiber optic cable may be left out. "Government has to have a backup plan in case the proposals which come forward do not provide access for those communities. Access to information and communication technology is so important to the way the modern world does business, there has to be a plan to see that services are expanded."

Jones is also concerned that communities in Labrador may not be receiving the same level of service as communities on the island portion of the province when it comes to broadband access. "Labrador was once a leader in IT but now I fear we may be in danger of slipping behind other areas of the province. Smart Labrador was a very innovative organization that led the way in developing applications for this kind of technology. In many ways they provided a template for the rest of the province in how to use technology to provide government services and improve the quality of life. I would hope that some of the businesses putting together proposals will seek their input and partner with them to expand on the type of work they have done."

"The process needs to be open and accountable and I will be watching this process very closely. We should have the ability to review the documents related to the requests for proposals to ensure the people of the province receive the best possible arrangement and the process is fair to all those who want to participate," says Jones.