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www.bclocalnews.com /bc_north
Friday, July 10, 2015 The Northern Connector
Fibre optics to beam into the Nass Valley NASS VALLEY - Years of planning and effort is about to pay off with the provision of high-speed digital communications in and out of the Nass Valley. Thanks to an agreement with BC Hydro, homes, businesses and public sector facilities in the Nass are to benefit via a fibre optics cable running along the length of the provincial crown corporation’s Northwest Transmission Line. There is already high speed internet service in the Nass Valley through various means, including microwave transmission, but being able to tie directly into the fibre optics capability through the transmission line system will mean much faster data speed for more people and plenty of bandwidth for everyone, says the director of Lisims Communications, one of two communications entities owned by the Nisga’a Lisims Government. “What we’re going to have is more than enough to meet our needs for now and into the future,” said Gary Patsey. Current services such as tele-medicine in which diagnostic and other images are digital-
ly transmitted and educational broadcast offerings for schools will have the benefit of the higher speed connections, he added. Wifi service and cell phone service will also be enhanced, Patsey added. When in full service, and the middle of July is the target date, the Nisga’a connection into the fibre optics network will start in Terrace at a facility run by communications provider Navigata. Some areas of the Nass Valley, notably the villages of New Aiyansh, Greenville and Gitwinksilkw have fibre optics lines connecting them already within the valley. And by October, there’ll be a fibre optic line connecting Gingolx at the mouth of the Nass River, said Patsey. The arrangement to use the BC Hydro fibre optics system was one of the benefits negotiated between the crown corporation and the Nisga’a Lisims Government in return for having the Northwest Transmission Line go through Nisga’a territory. “We’re going to break out at Nass Camp and then jump off into
our system,” said Patsey. The Nisga’a Lisims Government is managing telecommunications services in the Nass through two entities it owns – enTel, which in the telecommunications business is called a last mile provider because it delivers connections to clients, and Lisims Communications which operates the fibre optics service. “When we looked at it, it was feasible to proceed with our own project and connectivity,” said Patsey of service in and out of the Nass Valley. Provision is also being made for other service providers to hook into enTel facilities in the Nass, said Patsey. Prospective customers could include companies with industrial projects in the area or telecommunications companies wishing to sell cellphone and other services of their own, he said. BC Hydro’s own use for fibre optics on the Northwest Transmission Line is to provide data and operations information on the line’s performance. In case of power outages or disruptions, sections of the line can then
Skeena MLA’s civil suit postponed
TERRACE - A civil trial about potentially slanderous comments made about Skeena NDP MLA Robin Austin at an all-candidates forum during the May 2013 provincial election will not proceed July 13 as originally
be shut down to avoid damage. The fibre optic cable sends information from the substations to BC Hydro’s control centre where the BC grid is monitored and controlled. The Nisga’a Lisims Government has been working on high speed service into the Nass Valley for more than decade. Former BC premier Mike Harcourt, acting in his capacity as the board chair of a Nisga’a Lisims Governmentowned umbrella group which has enTel under its jurisdiction, brought the matter up as far back as 2008. Speaking at a Nisga’a Lisims Government conference, Harcourt outlined the plan to provide internet service. At one point he held up his own smartphone at the conference, proclaiming “I can’t use my Blackberry.” Using the Northwest Transmission Line as a fibre optics conduit turned out to be more efficient and more manageable than a previous plan to run the line on wooden poles parallel to Hwy113 into the Nass Valley.
“This way it’s also safer,” said Patsey. “We’re high on the [transmission line] towers and out of the way.”
scheduled. A new trial date has to be chosen because of the difficulty with the amount of time reserved to hear evidence, meaning the case wasn’t able to proceed, said Austin’s lawyer Roger McConchie.
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Gitxaala Nation By-Election August 5, 2015 Gitxaatla By-Election for the position of
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