Re: Better coverage required–May 30, 2017– Athabasca Advocate
I have been phoning Telus since 2013 regarding poor or no coverage in the County of Athabasca along Highway #2. In 2015 I made monthly complaints regarding no service. In 2016 I also made many calls regarding the poor or NO service. I have been calling again this year and was told that they have no plans on improving the area of coverage along Highway 2 at this time. I was told that there has not been enough complaints to warrant the cost that it would take to build the towers needed. I don’t know about you but we pay $600-$700 a month to Telus. Telus, Bell and Rogers all use the same towers, so if you aren’t getting good service from one of them it doesn’t help to switch. Don’t you think that the cell service providers should be the ones who absorb the cost of the towers and equipment required to give the service that they are supposedly selling you. Maybe they could put towers on land in the needed areas i.e. the waste management site along Highway 2 near Colinton or where Athabasca County has water well sites.
One of the phone numbers you can call to voice your complaints about the poor service is 1-866-558-2273. Go to the technical option and speak to the technician. They will give you a case number, then you can phone often to see if there are any updates regarding building a tower in your area. We live 1.5 kilometres east and about 12 kilometres south of the Town of Athabasca. I know that service is very poor all around Athabasca, Colinton, Century Estates, Perryvale, Grassland and the list goes on. At times, we have one bar and most of the time “no service” appears on my iPhone. My husband and I often receive messages one to two days after the sender has posted. At times a phone message will show up one or more days after it has been sent. I have had to walk some distance to get service when I have had problems with my vehicle or while working for forestry. I can’t imagine being stuck on the road with small children.
We have two businesses and we require much better service as the line locating business receives emergency calls when a gas leak or an accident has occurred with a spill of dangerous goods. We would never be able to rely on just cell phones as some people do. Please call the above states phone number regarding your cell coverage. Hopefully if enough people call and let Telus, Bell and Rogers or whatever company you are dealing, they will know that they need to step up their service.
Diana Richards
Athabasca, AB
