Municipal councillors in Richmond County want to get the word out about unacceptable levels of cell service in the municipality.
During last night’s regular monthly meeting in Arichat, Richmond Municipal Council approved a recommendation from its committee-of-the-whole to send a letter to newly elected Member of Parliament for Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish, Jaime Battiste, outlining concerns about limited and deteriorating cell service across Richmond County.
District 4 Councillor Amanda Mombourquette said a Sampsonville resident told her that after years of enjoying good cell service on their property, it has now gone “completely dead.” Not only has the problem gotten progressively worse over the years, Mombourquette said recently, the pace of the decline has accelerated, adding that she has personal experience with this decline.
Richmond Warden Lois Landry said Bell declined an invitation to appear before council, but in conversations she had with the company, one factor they noted was the increasing number of devices and phones putting a bigger load on current telecommunications infrastructure.
Although he is happy a new tower is being erected in the Sitrling area, Deputy Warden Brent Sampson said following last night’s meeting that there are large dead zones around his district, and he added that places that had good service two or three years ago, now have spotty coverage.