Residents of Whaletown on Cortes Island are facing a month-long delay in getting high-speed internet, thanks to an unknown vandal.
Internet company City West has been working on the island installing fiber optic cables as part of the Connected Coast project. On March 21, RCMP were called to investigate vandalism to the cables, which were cut in 17 locations along Whaletown Road.
City West’s Scott Simpson says it’s likely the vandal knew exactly what he was doing.
“The person responsible (person or persons) appeared to have a very in-depth knowledge of fiber optic networks, and specifically the City West network being built in Whaletown,” he says. “They knew where to damage the network to delay our project and render it inoperable.”
Police are now investigating. Simpson says at least $40,000 in damage was caused. The project will continue, but he says it will take time to replace the damaged cables.
Other communities on Isla Cortés were not affected and will receive their new services on time.
