A cluster of cables that have been cut bu a knife
Communications

CityWest’s Cable Cut In Whaletown

The West Connect Infrastructure (WCI) crew had just finished laying CityWest’s main cable in Whaletown, when one  of the workers noticed that a line had been cut. They immediately informed the RCMP, whose press release states they were initially informed of three cuts to the cable. 

Scott Simpson, Senior Marketing Manager at CityWest explained: “On the evening or night of Thursday, March 21st,  there was some vandalism done to the fibre optic network that was being constructed for the service to the community of Whaletown. Crews noticed some damage to the network. Upon further investigation, we found that 17 different sites have been damaged along about a 1.5 kilometre stretch on Whaletown Road. So, 17 different sites that had been cut with multiple cuts at each site, quite a bit of restoration work. We’re looking at an estimate of about $40,000 worth of damage overall. That would include materials and the labour to fix everything.”  

A West Connect Infrastructure truck in the area – Roy L Hales photo
The part of Whaletown Road mentioned in the text – courtesy Google Maps

Cst. Rebecca Draht, of the Quadra Island RCMP emailed that the cuts were made along a segment of Whaletown Road stretching east from Hunt Road to just east of Boddington Road.

Cortes Currents: Has anything like this ever happened to CityWest before? 

Scott Simpson: “No, this is a first for us. Usually it’s beavers or things like that. We’re not sure who did this vandalism, or if it was 1 person or a group.  All we know is that they had an intimate knowledge of fibre optic networking and specifically the CityWest network on Cortes Island. They knew where to cut the network to make it inoperable, but at this point, we don’t have any leads.” 

A Cortes Island resident who is familiar with the technology, but did not want to be identified, explained, “There’s a lot of conspiracy-minded people on the island here who think that the fibre optic is somehow connected to 5G. Of course it isn’t the same thing at all, as one is fibre cable and the other is radio based via the cellular networks.” 

Scott Simpson: “At this time, we don’t have any concrete theory.  We’re going to leave that to the RCMP to decide.”

Some of the cut cables at one site (also shown at top of this page) – Roy L Hales photo
(uncut) residential cable leading to a house – Roy L Hales photo
Sites on Whaletown Road – Roy L Hales photo

Cst. Draht stated, “No suspects have been identified at this time, we would welcome any tips and information from the public.”

Cortes Currents: Who is going to pay for this?

Scott Simpson: “We’ll be paying for it at this time.” 

Cortes Currents: “So you’re going to absorb the cost?”

Scott Simpson: ”Yes.” 

Cortes Currents: Do you know how much this has set CityWest back in terms of time? 

Scott Simpson: “It’s been about a week now since the cuts were made. We are still  assessing things and we’re looking at that five weekish ETA to get things repaired. We’re looking to have all of the repairs done by about the end of April.  I know the crew is quite saddened that we’re going to have to go through these repairs, but we are still committed to getting the repairs done and continuing our build.”  

West Connect Infrastructure truck and cable trialer – Photo by Roy L Hales

Cortes Currents: When do you hope to be finished in Whaletown? 

Scott Simpson: “We’re aiming for  midsummer and we’re going to keep the community updated as we get closer to launch.” 

Cortes Currents: When will you be totally finished on Cortes Island? 

Scott Simpson: “Probably about the same time. There are some areas that need a little bit of maintenance work on them, but the Whaletown project is the last major project on our Cortes  Island build.” 

Cortes Currents: Cortes Island is overseen by the Campbell River office and our Regional Manager is Brad Unger, former Chair of the SRD.  According to the CityWest website the Campbell River office is not open to the public.

A cable laying machine – Roy L Hales photo

Cortes Currents: Is there anything you would like to add? 

Scott Simpson:  Our Campbell River office is actually open, but it’s not a public facing storefront like some of our communities in the North. We do have multiple staff members across different departments that are supporting our other communities, technical service representatives, customer service representatives, but it isn’t  a public facing office where we have a customer counter and things like that.

Scott Simpson: “Just that we are really calling on the public to help the RCMP with the active investigation.  We’re really going to be leaning heavily on the community for any leads or information that could assist the RCMP with their investigation.” 

Within designated area, east of Boddington on Whaletown Road – Roy L Hales photo

“Lastly CityWest and our partners at the Strathcona Regional District, are very committed about bringing fibre optic services to Whaletown and Cortes as a whole. Although this is a delay in the project for Whaletown, we’re definitely committed to doing all the necessary repairs and fixing the network and we’re very excited to get to Whaletown very soon with fibre services.” 

Links of Interest

Top image credit: Some of CityWest’s cables that were cut in Whaletown – Roy L Hales Photo

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