BAMFIELD, B.C. – Prince Rupert’s CityWest announced today it has acquired West Island Cable of Bamfield, B.C., which is located on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.
“In 1901, a trans-Pacific undersea telegraph cable was laid from Fanning Island (south of Hawaii) to Bamfield, a small town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The telegraph station allowed for worldwide communications in a very short time span,” recalls the CityWest press release announcing the sale today.
“Although the station was decommissioned in 1959, it now houses the Bamfield Marine Science Centre. And now, CityWest is happy to be part of that telecommunications history with the purchase of West Island Cable, based in Bamfield, which will link up to the Connected Coast project,” reads the press release.
(We have reported on the Connected Coast project here and here.)
“We’re excited to work with CityWest, a company that knows the importance of community support where they do business,” said Eric Geall, president of West Island Cable. “We’ve built this company with the support of our community, and we’re looking forward to continuing that tradition with CityWest.”
CityWest is owned by the city of Prince Rupert and financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
In the near term, West Island customers will not notice a change in their bills or their existing services, adds the announcement.
“For us, this is the perfect partnership,” said Stefan Woloszyn, CEO of CityWest. “Both companies share a common goal of using first-rate technology to improve the lives of their customers – West Island through its ‘Gigafy Bamfield’ project, and CityWest through our many fibre-to-the-home builds in rural and remote communities. We’re looking forward to serving the community of Bamfield with great customer service and advanced technology.”
West Island recently completed construction of a brand new fibre optic network which will deliver Gbps speeds to customers and “once the Connected Coast project is activated in Bamfield, customers will see even faster Internet speeds at reasonable prices – and, they won’t have to worry about any data limits,” reads the release.
The Connected Coast project is currently in the permitting stage, and will begin construction later in 2021, meaning after its completion “Bamfield will once again be part of a sprawling undersea network that will bring improved communication services to its residents, businesses, and government organizations,” reads the release.
The announcement also noted CityWest “wishes to acknowledge the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, and we recognize that this company acquisition is taking place in the Traditional Territory of the Nuu-chah-nulth people.”
www.westislandcable.com
www.citywest.ca
