Cell service in Deer Lake is awful, and getting worse, mayor says

The mayor of Deer Lake is fed up with dropped calls and poor cellular service in his western Newfoundland town, while the provincial government says it can't do much about an issue it says rests with private carriers.

Mike Goosney says for the past four months, he can barely make a successful cellphone call. The line, he said, often drops off mid-conversation.

"It's interesting because the No. 1 thing people say now when they pick up the phone is, 'Can you hear me?' So, it is very robotic. And it's really scratchy," Goosney said. 

"So there is definitely something changed." 

Goosney encourages residents to file complaints with CCTS, or the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services, an independent, industry-funded agency that helps resolve consumer complaints.

He says poor cellular service is not just a Deer Lake problem, and that many communities in Newfoundland and Labrador cannot rely on their mobile phones.

That's why Goosney has sent a petition to leaders in 270 municipalities, asking them to sign and help advocate for better service.

"We should have modern services," he said.

Problem found well beyond Deer Lake

Andrew Parsons, the Newfoundland and Labrador cabinet minister responsible for technology, says he drives across the island frequently and also notices poor service. 

"This is an issue in a lot of places," Parsons said.

Although the province has tried to improve cellular and broadband service for several years with its connectivity strategy, its recent request for proposals for cellular companies to expand into certain areas didn't go over very well. There was a lack of providers interested in doing the job. 

"For the numbers of houses getting covered versus what their investment is … we are not getting them," said Parsons.

Deer Lake Fire Chief Stephen Rowsell said poor cellular service and dead zones have become a major safety concern for people living in the area.

WATCH | If you live in Deer Lake, you should have reliable cell service, mayor says:

The volunteer department used to rely on an app to contact firefighters in emergencies. However, cell service is so poor, they have returned to using pagers. 

The province has invested in a new radio system for emergency services. But Rowsell said it won't matter how much the technology advances if people who need help cannot reach it.

"If you are the person in the ditch requiring the help and you can't make the cellphone call to get that help, it doesn't matter what the first responders have. We need to be able to access the call," said Rowsell. 

"If somebody is involved in a motor vehicle accident and requires our assistance, sometimes there is the [situation] of the cellphone calls not getting through. So they have to stop a bystander to try to get someone to make that call."

Improvements coming, Bell says

He says by the time a bystander is able to connect with 911, important details are not remembered or gets lost in translation.

"Sometimes there is a delay in the response or a delay in the correct message or correct location, which is always a concern for first responders and we want to be able to provide the services as quickly and efficiently as possible," he said. 

As for government, Parsons believes poor cellular service in places like Deer Lake is unacceptable but not something his department can fix.

"We should be moving forwards not backwards," he said. "I think, first and foremost, it lies with the carriers." 

Bell's wireless network currently covers 94 per cent of the population of Newfoundland and Labrador.

In a statement to CBC, the company said mobile workers and people working from home could be affecting cellular traffic.

Bell said it plans on investing millions of dollars annually to add 4G capacity and expand 5G services to 100 sites in the Newfoundland and Labrador in the next two years, including cell sites in the Deer Lake area. 

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