HAIDA GWAII – CityWest, the Council of the Haida Nation, Skidegate Band Council and Old Massett Band Council, announced today they are partnering up to connect Haida Gwaii communities to a fibre-to-the-home network.
As part of the partnership, a new company will be created called CityWest Haida Communications Corp., which will send part of its profits to the Haida, providing community members with a direct financial benefit, according to a press release.
Additionally, the Haida Nation will own the fibre-to-the-home network, which will be “powered by CityWest fibre-optic services.” Construction will begin in the next few months with first “building a “drop” from the road to the home,” says the release.
“We are very excited about this agreement because it’s more than a partnership – it’s an opportunity for the communities to own their connectivity destiny for many years into the future,” said Stefan Woloszyn, CityWest CEO, in the press release.
Through the partnership, CityWest Haida “will be able to serve these customers by connecting these communities to the Connected Coast network, an undersea cable project that will bring backbone bandwidth to 139 rural and remote coastal communities along the BC coast,” the release says.
“Developing last-mile connectivity solutions will be transformative for our communities because of the many benefits that modern fibre network solutions will bring with the capacity to meet our growing needs and provide more reliable service,” said Gaagwiis Jason Alsop, president of the Haida Nation.
