Members of a neighbourhood association in Nanaimo are petitioning to improve cellular communications coverage in the city’s Hammond Bay area.
The petition, started by Sandra Miles on Change.org late last month, states that residents in north Nanaimo currently have inadequate cellphone service because there is no cellular communications tower in the area to provide it.
“This not only affects the quality of our daily communication but also poses potential risks during emergencies when reliable communication is crucial…” she wrote in the petition. “I am unable to make or receive cellphone calls from my home without accessing wi-fi. That is ridiculous.”
Miles, who has lived near Fillinger Crescent since 2006, said she penned the petition “on a whim” after becoming frustrated with the lack of reception in the area, especially after upgrading her cell phone and plan.
“I get one little tiny bar. It won’t do anything … I thought, what the heck? We’re second-class citizens here,” Miles said.
The renewed call for a cell tower follows an incident in Hammond Bay in July when Ken Gillies, who had gone into medical distress, died while waiting for emergency services that were delayed because his wife’s calls to 911 were repeatedly dropped.
Amie Armet, chairperson for the Rocky Point Neighbourhood Association and an area resident since 2016, said the association’s 200 members have brought up the poor cell coverage issue repeatedly at meetings, especially after reading about the circumstances around Gillies’s death.
A proposal for a cell tower in the area was thwarted in 2013 after the proposal encountered public opposition.
“I know that there was a lot of people that were against it previously and we’re trying to make it clear that we are in that area and we are very much in favour,” Armet said.
The association drafted a letter that was posted on its social media page and is trying to generate public awareness through other media.
“We’re basically just trying to share awareness and also just trying to share support,” Armet said. “We actually have no idea how to go about helping with this … because we realize that there are many level of red tape that go along with getting something like this installed.”
As of the start of this week, the petition had garnered more than 800 signatures. Many of those who signed commented on their personal reasons for supporting improved cell service, citing frustration with the patchy cellular reception.
Armet said a couple of years ago, she tried to call 911 after her very young daughter fell down the stairs, and her cellphone cut out several times. Her child wasn’t seriously hurt, but the experience prompted her to have a landline installed.
“That really kind of freaked me out if there was an actual emergency,” she said.
Steps are being taken to site a cell tower to upgrade the area’s cellular coverage.
“The telecommunications providers are in the process of securing a site,” said Bill Corsan, City of Nanaimo director of corporate and business development, in an e-mail. “Once they have a site, they will start the formal process through CRTC.”
To view the petition, visit www.change.org/p/install-a-cellphone-tower-in-north-nanaimo.
READ ALSO: Nanaimo man’s death underlines need for better cell coverage in Hammond Bay