The pending sale of Coast Cable will signal positive changes for cable subscribers on the Sunshine Coast.
Coast Cable and Delta Cable are poised to become part of Persona Communications of St. John's, Nfld. All that's left now is for the CRTC to approve the sale, which is expected by the end of the year.
In some cases, when one company buys another, it can mean pink slips for a lot of employees, but that appears to not be the case with this sale. Persona has pledged to retain all the talented staff at Coast Cable. In fact, they want to expand on the creative forces that have made Coast Cable such a strong company.
Coast Cable's standards for community service and mandate for quality community programming is amazing. One just has to visit the studios of Coast Cable at Elphinstone Secondary School to marvel at how Marlene Lowden and Steve Sleep can produce the kind of shows they do given the studio space available to them.
Hopefully, when this sale goes through, it will mean more money for the company and an increased focus on community programming, something Persona says they want to do.
The average customer probably won't notice too many differences. The office in Sechelt should remain, as will the Coast Cable name, but an increase in services is sure to come, which means better cable programming and new technologies.This is a good thing for the Coast as it might also mean more employment opportunities.
John Thomas, president of Coast Cable Communications, should be commended for the work he and his family have done in the industry and what they have done for the Coast.
Habitat gets their landKudos to Sechelt council for granting final rezoning approvals enabling Habitat for Humanity to build more affordable housing for the Sunshine Coast.
This dedicated group of volunteers has been busy building their first home in Gibsons. Now, thanks to Sechelt council, more families will be given housing opportunities from the good folks at Habitat. The lack of affordable housing is a problem on the Coast. It's nice to see that our municipal governments are taking a stand on this issue and working with groups like Habitat towards solutions to that problem.