An Open Letter to CityWest Customers

Feb 07, 2020

Dear valued customer,

The entire team at CityWest would like to thank you for your patience and understanding over the last week, as we experienced a slowdown on our Internet network.

This slowdown was caused by a rock slide on February 1 near North Bend, BC, which cut a fibre line in multiple locations along a 400-metre span. CityWest purchases Internet bandwidth on this fibre line –  which runs from Prince George to Vancouver – so we can provide you with the best possible Internet experience. When the break occurred, we were only able to re-route our Internet traffic through another part of our network that has a lower bandwidth capacity. It was like trying to put the same amount of water through a pipe a quarter of the size. As a result, our bandwidth got backed up, and all of our customers experienced much slower Internet speeds than they were used to. The last update we received from our bandwidth providers gave us a date of February 12 for restoral of services.

We know many customers were frustrated with this slowdown, and we understand why: the Internet has become very important to the lives of our customers. We were frustrated too, because the rockslide and subsequent clean-up were completely out of our control. However, we know we bear some of the responsibility for this slowdown.

That’s why we’re offering our customers a free two-month upgrade to any Internet package that is available in their area. It’s our way of saying thank you for remaining a loyal CityWest customer as you coped with this uncommon situation.

If you would like to take advantage of this deal, please contact us by February 28, 2020. You can call us at 1-800-442-8664, or email us at citywest@cwct.ca. Just let us know which Internet speed you’d like, and you’ll get it without any increase to your current price. Before the two months expires, we’ll reach out to anyone who took part of the deal to see if you would like to stay at your current speed. We’ll start the upgrade once we’re certain that the fibre cut is fixed and services are fully restored.

We truly regret any inconvenience this may cause, and we are grateful for your continued patronage.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Marett
CEO
CityWest