Rural cellphone service panned
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on brandonsun.com
- Read the Brandon Sun E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
*Your next Free Press subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/10/2011 (5472 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
THE Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission should order cellphone companies to provide reliable cellphone service in rural areas of the province, Premier Greg Selinger said Tuesday.
“I think there’s a case that can be made for the CRTC, which regulates telephone companies in the country, that those basic levels of services can be provided,” he said. “There’s no reason why Manitobans can’t make that case along with other parts of the country that have that same need.”
The issue came up in question period at the Manitoba legislature on Tuesday when La Verendrye Tory MLA Dennis Smook said out-of-control grass fires near Stuartburn early this month put firefighting crews at risk not because of the fire, but because the emergency communication system and land-line phones both went out of service.
“The lack of cellphone coverage made it difficult to co-ordinate firefighting efforts and to tell people to evacuate,” Smook said. “We are very fortunate nobody was hurt in these fires.”
Smook said provincial officials have to put together a plan now so that similar circumstances aren’t repeated.
MTS spokeswoman Selena Hinds said rural and remote cellular and broadband coverage is a difficult issue for both the private and public sector. “We have proposed initiatives to the federal government and the regulator that would assist in overcoming those challenges and we hope they are given serious consideration,” she said. “The provision of emergency communications is primarily a public service accountability.”