CityWest partners with Fraser Lake for Fibre-Optic Service

The Village of Fraser Lake marks the latest point on the CityWest
map where the Prince Rupert based communication company
has formed a partnership with local government to provide fibre optic services

Prince Rupert based Communication company CityWest has once again put its focus on the eastern part of the Highway 16 corridor.

The company announcing today that they and the Village of Fraser Lake will partner  on a new state of the art fibre optic network for the community.

The service to the Lakes area community in the Northwest will come in stages, with areas to the west of Fraser Lake to be the first to experience the new services. While installations are taking place, construction teams are still working to bring the rest of the community online. 

A launch date for the remaining areas of Fraser Lake is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. 

As part of the announcement the Village of Fraser Lake outlined some of the background towards the introduction of the fibre optic service.

To bring this state-of-the-art service to our residents and businesses, the Village of Fraser Lake directed available funding to the construction of this fibre-optic network. The Village’s investment toward this new service is recognized through a partnering agreement with CityWest. 

No additional municipal taxes were levied to build this $2.1 million project. 

In 2021, CityWest and the Village of Fraser Lake jointly entered into a partnership agreement. A new company was established, VFL Communications. The new company is providing last-mile fibre-to-the-home services in the Village. 

This unique partnership will see a portion of the profits from services go directly back into the Village of Fraser Lake, while also giving the community more influence over their connectivity needs. The Village of Fraser Lake has been instrumental in the success of this project, ensuring community members receive the opportunity to access fibre-optic connectivity.

Fraser Lake Mayor Sarrah Storey noted of the nature of the partnership between the Village and CityWest.

“We’re thrilled to see CityWest’s fibre-optic services go live in Fraser Lake. The municipality’s partnership with CityWest, recognized through the establishment of VFL Communications, will bring a welcomed and reliable advancement in connectivity to our community. We are proud and thankful for this unique and first of its kind partnership that will have direct financial benefits for Fraser Lake. On behalf of Council, I’d like to thank CityWest and the staff at the Village of Fraser Lake for all their hard and quick work on this exciting project. We look forward to the journey ahead!”

CityWest CEO Stefan Wołoszyn outlined the communication company's enthusiasm for the move into the community and how the look forward to the partnership.

“It’s an exciting day as we see the first customers in Fraser Lake go live with fibre-optic services. We are honoured to partner with the Village of Fraser Lake to deliver last mile services and are looking forward to building a strong relationship with our partners and the community of Fraser Lake”

The focus on Fraser Lake, is just the latest in a string of similar partnerships that the City of Prince Rupert owned communication company has forged across the Northwest in recent months.

You can review some of those previous announcements from our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.