It has been in operation since 1910. On August 10, 2005, the City of Prince Rupert (the company's sole shareholder) reorganized CityTel into a new company, called the CityWest Group of Companies, through the holding company "CityWest Cable and Telephone Corporation", or CityWest, as it is now known. On October 1, 2005, the company had purchased all of Monarch Cablesystems's Northern British Columbia cable assets, and its service area had expanded accordingly. CityTel had contracted Ledcor Group of Companies to construct a fiber-optic link to Terrace, and offered digital cable television in that area and in Prince Rupert, with digital cable in Kitimat.
On December 13, 2013, CityWest announced its exit from providing cellular services and that its existing cellular customers would be served by Telus.[1]
In September 2020 CityWest announced a $9 Million expansion into Vanderhoof.[2] In August 2021 CityWest announced a continued Southern expansion into Hornby and Denman Islands [3] and also announced its intention to expand into Cortes Island, Bella Coola, Bamfield, Tow Hill, Tlell, and Zeballos.[4] In November 2021 CityWest's $45.4 Million dollar Connected Coast project to better connect roughly 140 communities across the North Coast of BC began.[5] In January 2022 the initial subsea fiber-optic cable for the Connected Coast was laid.[6] In March 2022 a new partnership between CityWest and the Gitxaala Nation was announced to bring improved Internet to Kitkatla through the Connected Coast project.[7]
Services offered
CityWest offers phone service, optical and digital cable services, and internet access to residential and business customers. In particular rural and Indigenous communities along the BC coast.
