Rogers improves internet in B.C.’s Southern Gulf Islands with undersea cable

Rogers is enhancing its internet offerings to 3,000 homes and businesses on the Southern Gulf Islands of B.C. via an undersea fibre line.

The company said it invested $10 million in the fibre line to connect the Pender, Mayne, and Galiano Islands to mainland B.C. In a release shared with MobileSyrup, Rogers said the investments will bring faster speeds and improved reliability to island residents.

Specifically, Rogers said customers can access up to 2Gbps download speeds, a significant increase from the 25Mbps speeds previously available on the islands.

Located off the eastern edge of Victoria Island, Rogers said the Southern Gulf Islands weren’t “easily accessible to build network infrastructure,” and the underwater build required specialized materials to pull off. The company needed to sink roughly eight kilometres of submersible cable and have divers lay it along the ocean floor without impacting the local environment. Rogers’ 40-member team spent about 12,000 hours on the project.

With the cable laid and corded to the ocean floor, Rogers said it should “greatly reduce” impacts from weather conditions in the region.

Header image credit: Rogers

Source: Rogers