Planning for Connected Coast — the multi-government project to bring high-speed internet to all rural households in the province by 2030 — is under way.
Two applications for licences of occupation for a term of 10 to 30 years, listed in Land Act notices of application for the disposition of Crown land, included details of where the subsea fibre optic cables are proposed to be installed, and a potential timeline. A comment period for files #2412714 and #2412715 was open until Nov. 23. The file #2412714 included much of the lower Sunshine Coast, while file #2412715 includes from Pope Landing, Earls Cove and Egmont to the upper Sunshine Coast’s Saltery Bay, Stillwater, Lang Bay, Van Anda, Westview and Lund.
The management plan included in the application states the Connected Coast program is anticipated to take approximately three years, and will be constructed over four phases. The Sunshine Coast is included in the third phase (plus connections to Texada and Lasqueti islands).
“The undersea fiber optic cable will be laid onto the sea floor using a cable installation vessel. As the cable comes to shore it will transition into a rugged conduit system which will be installed through the intertidal zone as well as the beach and upland area. In the upland area a telecommunications vault (flush with grade) will be placed as well as a private power pole and an equipment cabinet. The crown land boundary is generally at the beach therefore the on shore components are within a MOTi, Municipal or other jurisdiction. The conduit system will be buried in the beach and upland area using a small excavator,” the management plan states.
The proposed route includes landing sites at Pope Landing, Secret Cove, Halfmoon Bay, Sechelt, ts'ukw'um (Wilson Creek), Gibsons, Langdale, Williamsons Landing, Gambier Harbour, Keats Island, and Bowen Bay. The management plan states the majority of landing sites will be within Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) rights of way. A previous route included landing sites at Welcome Beach, Roberts Creek, and New Brighton, which are not included in the latest proposal.
Installation will be dependent on weather conditions as well as regulatory permitting. The management plan states that, as the project continually pursues regulatory and stakeholder authorizations, it will target the earliest possible installation dates, and landing construction can be completed in one to two days per site.
Funding for the Connected Coast project was announced on Gambier Island in September 2022 by the federal Minister of Rural Economic Development Gudie Hutchings and Member of Parliament Patrick Weiler. On the lower Sunshine Coast, they said 663 households on Gambier and Keats islands would be served by the to-be-built cable.
