By Mark Squibb
If you live on the Avalon, whether it’s CBS, CB Centre, or the Southern Shore, you don’t need to be told how bad the cell phone service is.
Premier Andrew Furey was in Holyrood the Friday before last to announce over $3 million in spending for equipment for volunteer firefighters across the province.
Members of Holyrood council, many of whom were present at the announcement, have long bemoaned the poor cell phone coverage in Holyrood and beyond, and many a councillor has posited potential scenarios around the council table of folks not being able to reach emergency services because of the poor cell phone coverage.
When asked how government can better improve cell phone coverage in the area, Furey pointed to the federal government.
“(Poor cell service) is certainly something that we recognise, and we’ve been discussing with the federal government,” said Furey. “They have different pockets of money that they have been investing in increasing cell phone service and connectivity in rural and remote areas.”
Furey said his government has also talked with the companies themselves, and that around this time last year government tested satellite cell phone service in Heart’s Delight.
“We’re hopeful that the companies can increase the coverage with that new piece of technology,” said the premier.
The problem, said Furey, is not limited to Conception Bay Centre and CBS.
“We spend a lot of time driving across the province and have noticed in different areas that there has been diminished service, and so I’ve asked officials to reach out to companies and see if anything has changed, because it feels like, even where I live (Portugal Cove-St. Phillips) that cell service has changed, and certainly that would not be considered a rural or remote area,” said Furey.
