Information and thoughts on fibre-optic cable landing on Lasqueti

This is written hastily. I'll polish it later, and probably add more.  I encourage you to read and consider, and to leave comments or questions. You can contact me directly at  pjohnston(at)lasqueti(dot)ca

The best source of information is the Public Hearing binder, which currently has 350 pages of information and submissions/feedback on the bylaw amendment project that would permit landing the cable at the Weldon Road barge ramp. The binder is at:
https://webfiles.islandstrust.bc.ca/islands/local-trust-areas/lasqueti/c...

About Connected Coast project  from https://connectedcoast.ca/  

The Connected Coast Program is intended to connect 97 rural, remote and Indigenous communities between Prince Rupert, Haida Gwaii, all around Vancouver Island and along the mainland coast to Vancouver.

The main part of the project, the laying of  the undersea cable and landing at the approximately 100 communities, is due to be completed March 31, according to the Connected Coast person at the recent LTC public information meeting before the Public Hearing began. The permit to land and install the cable at the barge ramp also expires that day.Money has been budgeted and allocated to cover the costs of the undersea cable and landing in each community. As  a separate program, there is also money set aside for funding a large part of the costs of laying cable in each of the communities. This is a mostly federal government program to bring unconnected and under-served communities into the digital world, and is without cost to community members, unless/until they decide to hook up toibre-o

and use the service offered, at which time they will have to pay for using the connection.

Fibre-optic cable

Fibre-optic cable transmits light inside a special glass fibre. The light and the information it transmits has no effect at all outside of the cable, except at the ends, where it is connected to devices to render the information usable. This system requires very little energy to operate, especially when compared with the radio systems that are used by LIAS, cell phone and satellite systems.

The cable is oval shaped, 13.5 by 6.3mm. It's laid in 10km spliced together sections

Connected Coast has permission to lay it in a 10m/33' wide corridor from near Qualicum to the Weldon Road barge ramp. The bylaw amendment (if it is passed) will permit it in Lasqueti's M1 Marine Conservation zone. No other cables or utilities will be permitted without further bylaw amendments of the zone's permitted uses.

Other than laying the cable on the ocean floor, nothing further is ever done to it, except at its landing point, where it is to be put into a trench, minimum 2' below the surface, and where it is most vulnerable it is put into a split, malleable iron pipe, with the trench filled and capped, so that it is protected from damage.

The cable can be repaired or spliced if necessary, probably by bringing it up to the surface and doing it on a barge or boat.

Cable landing at Weldon Road barge ramp  

Except for the actual work of constructing the trench, bringing the cable ashore and securing it in its vault, there will be no ongoing disturbance at the barge ramp. There will be no obstruction or interference or conflict with normal use, except during construction, which is expected to be completed in one day. Presumably there will be little or no noticeable change to the site, and its normal use will be unaffected.

Time and completion of project

According to the Connected Coast representative at the LTC meeting Monday, the installation of a Lasqueti connection is supposed to be completed by March 31, which I think must be the end of the funding period for this stage. The backbone infrastructure was scheduled to be completed in 2025, and March 31 is the end of government's fiscal year.

She said that it's basically a one day job to place the cable in a trench (2' deep, about 1' wide, through the foreshore up onto the land, cable contained in a ductile cast iron pipe. Details, specifications and plans are available in the Public Hearing Binder at
https://webfiles.islandstrust.bc.ca/islands/local-trust-areas/lasqueti/c...

Statements were made at the LTC meeting that the cable would be vulnerable to damage from barge traffic and use of the ramp. This seems unlikely if the cable is to be buried in a trench through the shallow shore and bedrock at the ramp. If it is ever damaged, it would be repaired.

A statement was also made that ramp use noise and disturbance bothers neighbouring residents. The cable landing there will be silent and bother-free except for the actual installation, which obviously will involve equipment and vessels. Presumably the cable will be laid so as not to be interfered with by barges and other vessels using the ramp.

The use of the ramp for normal barge and boat traffic will not be affected at all, except for the time when the landing and installation work is being done, and it might not be affected then, depending on where exactly on the site they decide to bury the cable. There should be no reason to fear that the cable will affect the ramp, other than very temporarily.

Future of LIAS if fibre-optic does get deployed on Lasqueti

This is not certain, but LIAS and City West (who have installed much of the infrastructure in other communities) have talked about working together, with City West providing the f-o cable service and LIAS providing radio service to residents in areas that the f-o system doesn't serve.

The f-o system will be faster and more reliable, and probably a bit more expensive to subscribe to than LIAS is now, but it is faster and more powerful. It will use a lot less power than the radio system that LIAS currently uses for everyone on its system. LIAS would be the largest customer, and get their signal, much improved, right here on Lasqueti

The LIAS radio system will probably be redeployed to serve people who are not on the fibre-optic cable. It will have to continue to rely on batteries to power the radios. Batteries and power are the most vulnerable part of the system, especially in winter with long nights and cold weather. Together, these systems should complement each other and lead to more people getting better service.

In my opinion, it is not certain that there will need to be a LTC process, with community input, to change zoning regulations and permit the deployment of the cable on Lasqueti. The province owns and controls the roads, and as it is a senior government to the Trust, it can permit the deployment of the cable on or under them. I think it is unlikely that they would do this without community support. There is a lot that the community could do to demand a public process, and to hugely impede, slow and stop deployment without community input and approval.

Some fear that the fibre-optic cable will bring a 5G cell tower to Lasqueti.  This is, in my opinion, extremely unlikely to happen. There are not enough customers and not enough need or demand for a cell tower on Lasqueti. Lasqueti, and the areas surrounding Lasqueti, are already well served with 5G (and older, slower) cell towers.  It would be very expensive and difficult to install a cell tower on Lasqueti, mostly because there is no source of power here to allow it to operate. It would be very expensive to install and keep an electric generation facility operating here, and the costs and delays in servicing and repairing the installation would be huge. As well, the installation would be very vulnerable and difficult/expensive to protect.

When BC Hydro planned to cross Lasqueti with its Cheekeye to Dunsmuir transmission line, one of the old-timers told a meeting that if many of us bought a case of dynamite it would be noticed and BC Hydro would reconsider the route. Years later, I met a man who had worked for Hydro at the time, and he told me that they often received letters threatening sabotage, but the ones from Lasqueti had signatures and return addresses, which they had never seen before. 

I am not advising vandalism or sabotage, but to be pointing out that a group of people, when united in a cause, can change things that are planned. Infrastructure on Lasqueti like a cell tower, would be a huge expense, headache and risk for anyone who was considering it.

I believe, but do not know, that when or if cable laying on Lasqueti takes place, they will connect houses that don't promise to sign up for service, so that they can change their mind and connect simply and quckly in the future. This connection is not planned to connect every residence in the community with the cable, but those that are located with sufficient density to make it feasible. 

Having the cable-laying equipment and crew in a community is expensive, so they will connect as many houses as possible with the given amount of funding available, and the expected future monthly revenue they hope for. I know that on nearby islands - Denman and Hornby - they have offered to connect houses within about 80 meters of the roadway, and if they are farther away, will probably do it at a cost of about $5 per meter. I have been told that if the property-owner is comfortable having the cable beyond this point lying on the ground instead of buried, this cost will be negligible or zero. I think they really want as many monthly subscribers as possible as soon as possible, and they also want as many homes to be connected to the cable, as sooner or later the residents are likely to become subscribers. It would take many potential subscribers in an area to want to sign up to make it worthwhile bringing the equipment and crew back to lay more cable and connect more houses.