On behalf of CityWest, and our partners, we apologize for the service disruption on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. We hope the repair crews and all parties involved are safe and well.
CityWest is committed, wherever possible, to laying fibre cable under the surfaces of land and water to ensure that our service can continue without disruptions. We are all working toward one goal: to connect BC families and businesses to the world. Most ISP (Internet Service Providers) have historically shared poles above ground to connect wires. When one of those poles is affected as a result of an unforeseen or tragic event such as an accident, inclement weather conditions, or conditions caused by Mother Nature, we often face challenges to repair the damages and restore services.
Through our Connected Coast subsea project, we will continue to remove these possible unforeseen conditions. The project will also provide redundancy for Northern BC. Currently, most of Northern BC relies on one fibre path for all Internet traffic. If that path is damaged, several communities can lose all connectivity. The Connected Coast will provide the North with another path for online traffic, so it can be rerouted if a link is damaged. After completion, many communities in the North and along the coast will have a redundant connection, providing more reliable services.
We are excited about the future for communities and businesses across BC to have the opportunity to have connectivity without disruptions. You can read more about the Connected Coast project here: www.connectedcoast.ca.
Again, on behalf of CityWest and our partners, we do apologize for the service disruption yesterday and are happy to report the network is back up and running as of last evening.
We appreciate your patience and understanding.
Regards,
Tanya Jenkins
VP, People & Markets
About the Connected Coast
The Connected Coast project is a joint venture between CityWest and the Strathcona Regional District. The $45.4 million project received funding from the government of Canada’s Connected to Innovate program ($22 million), Indigenous Services Canada ($12 million), and the Province of B.C. through the Connected British Columbia program ($11.4 million). When complete, the Connected Coast project will provide backbone communication services to 139 rural and remote communities, including 48 Indigenous communities – representing 44 First Nations – along the BC Coast from Prince Rupert, to Haida Gwaii, south to Vancouver, and around Vancouver Island.
The project will touch approximately 90,000 households in rural and remote communities around B.C., stretching 3,400 kilometres – about the distance from Vancouver to Ottawa. Laid in an environmentally-friendly manner on the ocean floor, it will be one of the longest coastal subsea networks in the world.