Getting ready to watch TV with the Mayor

On the same day (last Friday) that the internet service crashed in Prince Rupert, the Daily News had a story on the fibre link to Terrace and how it could mean improved cable television in the city by late next year and increased business opportunities as well.

It was bit of rather unfortunate timing (even if as they said at CityWest it wasn’t their fault) as many Rupertites had spent the day bemoaning their lack of digital linkage to the outside world and were forced to deal with a string of bank machine failures that meant having to stand in line to reintroduce themselves to their local bank teller.

In the article the mayor comments on the significant investment by CityWest into the digital world and how it will result in many happy customers. While in the same article CityWest officials make a rather bold prediction that many of the residents of Rupert will be migrating back to cable from satellite once the new and improved Digital cable service is on line from CityWest.

It seems a rather odd bit of crystal ball gazing, as we’re not sure why anyone who has invested over three hundred dollars in equipment (If they have more than one connection as most do) would automatically return to the cable alternative. Not to mention the fact that the new CityWest system probably won’t be on stream until mid to late next year.

Television viewers are very much living in the now not in the soon to come, they want that Canuck’s game on Pay per view today (though offering Chicago as the opposition team of choice can’t do much for sales) same with the movies, Ultimate fighting matches, Hockey and football packages, and other plethora of channels presently only available on the dish.

Waiting the six or seven months until all is up and running may be a bit too much to ask for the entertainment starved zombies of the Northwest. There may be a bit more bleeding off of television passengers from CityWest until the new delivery bus starts to make its run next year.

The full article was presented in Friday’s Daily News.

CITYWEST PROJECT CONNECTING RUPERT
City is now linked to Terrace via fibre cable
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, November 17, 2006
Page Two

CityWest has completed its fibre link project along Highway 16 between Terrace and Prince Rupert.

“The completion of this project marks a significant achievement for CityWest,” said Chad Cunningham, sales and marketing manager for CityWest.

The 150 kilometer fibre line spans some very rough terrain, but now stands as the only fibre link along the Terrace-Prince Rupert corridor.

“During the recent Changes Brings Opportunity conference, one thing that many experts mentioned was the need for Prince Rupert to have vital communications infrastructure in place as the container port and ancillary industry develops, the fibre link is the first an most important step toward that end,’ said Cunningham.

Rob Brown, general manager of CityWest, said the company knew this infrastructure was something that Prince Rupert needed, and something that CityWest must have in order to grow.

“But when you decide to build something like this, you take a leap of faith that others will buy into it as well. Already the fibre link has introduced a new line of business for CityWest, that being leasing space on the fibre to large customers and communications carriers. We are pleased to welcome the Navigata Communications Inc., as our first major customer on this fibre link.

“Talks continue with several other customers who may rent space as well,” he said.

Brown is quick to point out however, the fibre link is also a tool that CityWest plans to use internally to provide new services in Prince Rupert and Terrace. In fact, the placement of the fibre link is only the first phase in the company’s larger plan to add new services. The second phase is to upgrade the local cable lines in both Terrace and Prince Rupert. This work is now underway and is expected to take a minimum of three to fourth months more to complete.

Once the local cable upgrade is completed, CityWest will prepare to launch new services in both Terrace and Prince Rupert starting with digital cable TV services, which are scheduled to be available by mid-2007.

“This upgrade is a significant investment for CityWest, but we are confident that the outcome will be many happy customers,” said Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond.

Once available, CityWest says Digital cable TV service will bring CityWest customers a sharper better quality picture that is HDTV (High Definition Television) compatible. There will be 200+ channels, an interactive TV guide that customers control, pay per view services and more, all from a local company.

“One added benefit of Digital Cable TV vs. satellite is that receiver isn’t required for each TV, so service to additional sets is free. When we introduce digital cable TV, we anticipate many people will migrate back from satellite,” said Brown.

“As we’ve said over the past year since becoming the cable provider for the Northwest, we’ll keep our customers posted as our plans progress. 2007 will be a big year for CityWest customers in the Northwest.