Installation crews will be working on Cortes Island to lay fiber optic internet cable along roads and to individual homes starting Jan. 7. Households that had applied for the free installation will be contacted two days prior to their turn.

The cable is expected to provide high-speed internet service later this year by connecting to one of the four landing sites around the island where subsea fiber optic cables will emerge from the ocean.

Proposed backbone submarine fibre path and landing points (estimated completion 2021) Red, Blue & Green = Main submarine fibre. Image courtesy of Connected Coast.

Klahoose, Seaford, Manson's Landing and Whaletown are part of approximately 139 rural and remote coastal communities included in the Connected Coast project, which is placing subsea fibre optics cable along more than 3,400 kilometres of coastal BC.

According to the provincial government, the coastal subsea network will be one of the longest in the world, reaching all the way to Haida Gwaii and around Vancouver Island. The project is a joint venture between the Strathcona Regional District and CityWest telecommunications.

CityWest regional manager Dino Tsakonas shared the latest details for this next local phase of installation. He is available for any queries at (250) 202-6004 or via dino.tsakonas@cwct.ca

He also spoke briefly about how the fiber optic technology differs from the wireless technology in the renewed proposal for cellular towers on Cortes by TELUS.

Address density map of Cortes Island. Image courtesy of Connected Coast.

Listen to the CKTZ News interview below with Dino Tsakonas: