by Two months after an accident a Labrador woman and her family left waiting hours to connect to public Wi-Fi at the Trans-Labrador Highway depot – the only way they could let friends and family know what happened, given the lack of mobile phone service in the region – the provincial government says changes are in the works.
In November, Rebecca Larkham’s mother was driving her, her sister and daughter to Port Hope-Simpson. They hit a patch of black ice covered in slush, causing the truck to skid, leave the highway and fall 15 feet over an embankment, landing in a stream.
The family climbed out of the truck, suffering from bruises and scratches — and in Larkham’s case, a broken nose — and hitched a ride to the nearby Crooks Lake highway depot with a passing couple.
Larkham said she had bruises and a broken nose, but her daughter only had a small cut and her mother and sister had bruises. (Submitted by Rebecca Larkham)
But they couldn’t connect to the public Wi-Fi at the depot because it was password protected. Larkham was given the password by highway workers who arrived at the depot two hours later. She says it was lucky no one was seriously hurt, considering how long it took to make contact with anyone.
“Two hours at that point – the damage could have been much worse,” Larkham said.
Cell service in Labrador is not available outside of communities – drivers heading east from Happy Valley-Goose Bay will not have cell service until they reach Port Hope Simpson, 400 kilometers away.
Public Wi-Fi provided by the provincial government is supposed to fill the gaps, at Crooks Lake, about 150 kilometers south of Happy Valley-Goose Bay and at Cartwright Junction, about 300 kilometers. However, screenshots shared with CBC News show that the wireless network has been password protected for months.
The Department of Transport and Infrastructure declined to be interviewed about Larkham’s concerns. Labrador Affairs Minister Lisa Dempster also initially declined the CBC’s repeated requests for an interview, but after CBC Radio’s Morning Labrador An interview with Larkham, the minister told CBC News, aired during the province’s installation of two new Starlink satellite dishes at highway depots, which she said will resolve the password issue in the coming weeks.
In an emailed statement, the Department of Transport and Infrastructure said public Wi-Fi is not actually password protected.
“The issue is that the Wi-Fi is automatically connecting to a different password-protected server, rather than the public Wi-Fi available at the depots,” said the statement, from department spokeswoman Maria Browne. The department is working to resolve the issue, Browne said.
After the accident, Larkham says, her phone issued an emergency alert and she contacted emergency services. (Submitted by Rebecca Larkham)
For Larkham, the problem cannot be solved too soon.
“It’s a pain to go 400 kilometers with no way to check in with anyone,” she said.
“Anything is better than what it is right now. … There must be more to offer than what it is right now, because if something were wrong, our story would definitely have a different ending.”
Apple’s SOS satellite system was launched
Larkham said they were lucky that she recently got a new iPhone, one with Apple’s new satellite emergency system.
“My cell phone was saying ‘Crash Detected’ and ‘Contact Emergency Services,'” Larkham said. “I could put my phone up and it was telling me exactly which way to point at a satellite.”
Larkham says she and her family are lucky they weren’t seriously injured in the crash. (Submitted by Rebecca Larkham)
The feature is only available on iPhone 14 and later models. Larkham said her sister and mother have older model iPhones without the system.
The system allowed her to communicate via text with 911 dispatchers. She informed them that an ambulance was not urgently needed as well as how to contact her husband. The dispatcher was able to reach Larkham’s husband to let him know where to pick him up.
Satellite phone not working at crash site
The provincial government has satellite phones that people can check for free, but a 2021 CBC Investigates story found that more than half of them had gone missing. The couple who gave the Larkham family a ride had a satellite phone and tried to call for help.
“Their satellite phones weren’t working. They couldn’t get any sense out of it,” Larkham said. “They tried and tried and tried.”
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