CityWest and Gitga'at sign partnership agreement on Connected Coast fibre to home program

More expansion and partnerships for Prince Rupert's CityWest

The Gitga'at Development Corporation is the latest group to sign on to to the Connected Coast initiative, with Prince Rupert based CityWest announcing a joint partnership agreement today that will see the joint management and access to state of the art fibre to the home for the Hartley Bay Area. 

As part of today's announcement, the partnership will see the creation of a new company, CityWest Gitga’at Communications Corp.  which will jointly manage the leg of Connected Coast from Kitimat to Hartley Bay.

Paul Paterson, CEO of Gitga’at Management observed of the opportunities the agreement will provide for community members.

“The Connected Coast project will bring tremendous opportunities for our membership. Through this partnership, and the long-term nature of the relationship, we will see both revenues and opportunities which will directly benefit Gitga’at First Nation and its members,” 

The Gitga'at Development Corporation is owned and operated by the Gitga'at First Nation and has a number of investments in the Prince Rupert area.

Towards the community access initiative, Hartley Bay will be connected to the world through the Connected Coast network, an undersea cable project that will bring backbone bandwidth to 139 rural and remote coastal communities along the BC coast, as well as around Vancouver Island. 

The Connected Coast project, which is funded by the federal and provincial governments, is co-managed by CityWest and the Strathcona Regional District has been making a string of partnership announcements similar to the Hartley Bay agreement in recent months.

Stefan Woloszyn, CEO of CityWest hailed the agreement today as the start of an expanded relationship with the Gitga'at Nation 

“We see this partnership as just the beginning of a strong relationship with the Gitga’at Nation, a group that we hold in the highest regard. Their entrepreneurial spirit and enthusiastic approach to business opportunities fits perfectly with the vision and values of our company, and we’re excited about the many new adventures we’ll have with our new partners.”

Hartley Bay will be one of the communities served by the
Connected Coast initiative with a fibre connection to run from
Kitimat to the community

We recently noted that the Connected Coast project was preparing to lay subsea fibre, with a cable installing vessel arriving at Campbell River.

That work on the fibre cable installation project is expected to get underway within the coming weeks.

More notes on today's announcement can be explored here.

A wider overview of past CityWest themes is available for review here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.