by PEI MLAs heard more details Tuesday about the connectivity problems plaguing cell phone users on the island, but not much about solutions.
Staff members with the provincial Department of Economic Development and Trade described problems with reception and dropped calls, along with some ways cellular providers could make improvements.
MLAs from all parties, and government bureaucrats who were sharing information from providers, agreed that the increase in population and the use of mobile phones on the island is putting pressure on wireless capacity.
‘Cell service on PEI is abysmal,’ said Green MLA Peter Bevan-Baker during Tuesday’s meeting of the standing committee on education and economic growth. (Legislative Assembly PE.I.)
“Our job is to represent the concerns of our constituents and the concern of our constituents is that cell service on PEI sucks,” Green MLA Peter-Bevan Baker said during a standing committee meeting. for education and economic growth.
The committee also heard that the province is using outdated technology. Modern 5G technology is only used for mobile data in PEI, and voice calls are shared between the older 4G network and even the older 3G network.
Figures from two mobile phone providers, Telus and Bell, provided to the committee on Tuesday, showed that out of 600,000 daily calls, just under 2,000 have been dropped – about a third of one per cent.
Robert Henderson, Liberal MLA for O’Leary-Inverness, said that figure was low.
O’Leary-Inverness Liberal MLA Robert Henderson says cell service in his area is ‘terrible’. (PEI Legislative Assembly)
“In my riding [the service is] scary,” he said. “Sugarcoat it whatever you want … that’s not accurate. Unless you have evidence to the contrary, I can talk to just about any partner in my riding and there are areas where you get zero service. So it’s hard for me to believe that some areas aren’t better than others.”
PEI needs more cell towers, but the government doesn’t have much leverage to convince cell phone companies to build them.
The federal government has mandated a national 5G upgrade by 2027, but the Island is likely to be the last to receive updates as companies will focus on larger centers first.
PC MLA Robin Croucher said the lack of service in some areas was not an inconvenience, it was a safety concern.
PC MLA Robin Croucher says cellular providers are giving PEI a ‘second rate service’. (PEI Legislative Assembly)
“Our suppliers are giving us second rate service as a whole province,” he said. “How do we emphasize the need to come on board and make the investments to give us the service we’re paying for and they’re providing? We have to challenge them to do better.”
One thing the province says has gotten the attention of Telus, which has the main contract for government cell phones, is to switch some of those phones to another carrier.
PEI’s director of business infrastructure services, John Brennan, says one thing that got the cell providers’ attention was moving some government phones to other providers. (PEI Legislative Assembly)
“We’ve experienced areas that have real performance issues,” said director of business infrastructure services John Brennan. “Some of our users have moved from our main provider, Telus, to Eastlink where Eastlink is providing a more stable service in certain geographic parts of the province.”
Telus told CBC News on Tuesday that it is working with the province to improve connectivity.
“Telus is committed to meeting the needs of our customers as cellular traffic and data usage levels continue to rise in Prince Edward Island,” he said in a statement. “We continue to work with the Prince Edward Island Government on improving connectivity.”
Ghiz again asked to meet the government
CTR also wants to connect with former PEI chief executive Robert Ghiz, who heads the industry group representing mobile phone companies.
Ghiz has twice declined invitations to appear before the committee, which is seeking accountability and solutions from the industry, along with a better timeline for improving the service.
