GwaiiTel
PO Box 796 V0T 1S0 Queen Charlotte, BC, Canada

Statement regarding Xplornet: GwaiiTel is aware of the termination of Xplornet satellite internet on Haida Gwaii scheduled for Dec 31, 2020 resulting from end-of-life decommissioning of part of their satellite network. We were made aware of this issue when contacted by concerned residents who currently have no alternative internet provider that can provide service after this date. We owe it to these residents to be crystal clear about what we are doing, and what we are able ...to do, at this time so that we do not make commitments, or set expectations, that that we are unable to follow through on. GwaiiTel's is currently investigating technical solutions that might enable a 3rd party internet service provider to provide service to these residents; we will do our best to identify, investigate, and communicate possible solutions. It is vital, however, to ensure that these residents understand that we are not committing to provide internet service to them at this point. There are significant technical, financial, and operating barriers that currently stand in the way of connecting these properties to terrestrial networks. We are working hard to find ways to work around these barriers; however, solutions may very well be outside of our capacity. We understand how important and how stressful this situation is and that these residents just want some certainty, especially in this difficult time. But we are not is a position to provide that certainty. All that we can do is assure these residents that they have been heard, and that we are doing our best to find realistic solutions within our capacity and mandate. Your MP, MLA, and Local Government reps are aware of this issue and are advocating for you. Other players in the telecom space on Haida Gwaii (such as Telus and Mascon) are also aware of this issue. We strongly encourage you to continue contacting these representatives and organisations until a solution is found. If you are in this position we are asking that you identify yourself to us by emailing [email protected] and include your name, address, and a description of where your dwelling is located. This information will be used to have a clearer understanding of exactly who is being impacted by this problem. We understand that some of you may live outside of internet service areas and as such cannot send an email, if this is the case please have a friend or relative send an email for you and include contact information so that we can confirm receipt of the correspondence. We know that this is not the commitment or certainty that you are desperately looking for, but it is all that we can honestly and responsibly commit to right now. This issue, along with continuing the expansion of capacity of our radio link to the mainland, are our number 1 priorities moving forward. Respectfully, Evan Putterill Chairperson GwaiiTel

Outage Update 2200 May 25 - Thanks to the techs putting in a long and muddy day the fibre cut has been repaired. Damage was not as extensive as originally thought but was still pretty serious. TV and Internet for those impacted should be restored now for GwaiiComm/Mascon customers and if you are still experiencing an outage please give them a call at 250-559-7777. Please call BC 1 Call before you dig at +1 800-474-6886 or request a locate online at https://www.bc1c.ca/

We are aware of the current outage impacting GwaiiComm/Mascon cable and internet on the bottom half of Haida Gwaii. Techs have been dispatched and our network monitoring centre is monitoring the situation and providing assistance as required.

Our new antenna at our Mt. Hays tower site was installed this AM resulting in an island wide outage for several hrs. The link back up and running now but the tower team is still testing and optimising the new antenna. There may be periodic short interruptions for the next few hrs as they complete this work. This project was required to increase the reliability and resilience of our radio link to Haida Gwaii. Thanks for your patience.

Our antenna replacement project has been postponed to tomorrow (Saturday) morning as wind has just passed the safety threshold a few minutes ago. It's a 12 foot wide dish so it catches the wind and Safety comes first. Thanks for your understanding. More updates will be provided when we get them. Expect a 4 hour outage tomorrow AM.

Outage Update: the latest from the tower technicians is that today's (Friday) island wide outage will commence at approximately noon and will be approximately 4 hrs in duration. If you did not read yesterday's advisory, we are instilling a new antenna at our Mt Hays tower site, this antenna will increase the reliability of the microwave radio link to Haida Gwaii.

Our network on Haida Gwaii be offline tomorrow (Friday) from mid morning for approximately 4-8 hours. This time may change due to weather or other factors. The outage is necessary to facilitate the installation of a new antenna at our Mt. Hays tower site. The new antenna is a critical piece of our network infrastructure and the project is required to enhance the reliability of internet on Haida Gwaii; the work cannot be done without a lengthy service outage. The antenna was b...uilt in Texas and was transported up to the tower by helicopter today, it is 12 feet wide so it is a pretty big job. We cannot give exact times at this point as it is weather dependent and the tower crew needs to assemble the antenna tomorrow AM before they turn off the link, pull it up the tower, mount, align, and test the link. Advanced notice was not possible as exact shipping arrival dates were unknown and the project was dependent on weather and availability of specialised technicians. We will provide more information as we get it. See more

We have re-established our diversity antenna and our link to the mainland should be back up to full capacity now, we will be monitoring traffic closely to ensure all is functionality as expected. We still have aspects of the project to complete and still have a bandwidth capacity upgrade planned for late spring. But we should now be back up to full capacity from the approx 60-70% that we were sitting at for the past month. We have no concrete timelines or other information to share for other repairs or upgrades to the link but we will update the public when we do.

Outage Update: our radio link has been restored at partial capacity. For those of you just getting back on please note that this outage was as a result of weather and we have had the parts and tower crew on site since the morning of the outage but they have not been able to conduct work at the tower site until today as a result of weather (heavy snow, freezing rain, fog, and wind) that hampered access to the tower, and once they were able to get to the tower they were unable ...to climb (once again due to the weather). Safety is of course paramount in situations like this. The link is still vulnerable to severe weather and running a partial capacity but once a new antenna is installed these issues will be resolved. The new antenna has shipped and will be installed as soon ASAP, a hurricane kit for the new antenna is on back-order but once it arrives we will mobilise the tower crew again to install it..... by the end of this the tower crew will be honorary citizens of sunny Prince Rupert. Thank you for your patience folks. See more

Outage update: weather has improved, the tower crew have begun repairs. If all goes well the link should be back up by 2pm.

Outage update: the tower crew was on site again today but could not complete repairs due to weather conditions. They will return tomorrow and try again.

Outage update: the tower crew were on site today but could not undertake any repairs due to the combination of winds and freezing rain. They are standing by and will complete repairs when it is safe to do so. We will provide another update tomorrow.

Outage Update: weather conditions have prevented the tower crew from completing repairs today. They have stood down and will resume their attempts tomorrow morning. This is all the information that we have, as this is weather dependent we do no have a timeline. The next update will be mid day tomorrow (Friday).