For more years than anyone can remember, cell service in the Dundee/West Bay area of Cape Breton has been extremely poor or virtually non-existent.

When cell phones first appeared on the scene, this wasn't much of an issue but these days everybody has a phone or a tablet and the lack of coverage from the major carriers, Bell, Telus and Rogers in this area has become a major problem. In this internet connected age this issue impacts everything from Real Estate markets in the area (would a young modern family want to live in an area with no cell service??) to Emergency Services.

If you call the carriers, especially Bell Aliant and Telus, they will tell you that their coverage maps show the area has service but those of us living here can tell you that isn't true. Service is nowhere to be found without a booster of some sort, which means a home owner must pay hundreds of dollars to get a connection in addition to paying the monthly service fees. Even with a booster there is still no guarantee you will get consistent service.

This is the year 2014. It is outrageous that this area is home to hundreds of people, a major Golf Resort, is only 15 minutes from Port Hawkesbury, sees a great deal of tourist traffic and yet has virtually no cell service.

Strictly from a safety point of view, the fact that these roads are poorly cleared, if at all, in Winter should be an indicator of just how important cell service is to the well-being of people living and travelling in the area.

We are aware of the difficulties presented by the terrain in this area, however the service providers are collecting fees for cell phones that don’t work in areas their own coverage maps say are covered. This is not right and it’s not fair.

Please sign this petition to make the cellular service providers and provincial government aware of this issue so that hopefully they will address it and fix it.

Call your service provider and ask them why they aren't addressing this problem.

You can also contact MLA Michel Samson in his capacity as the Representative for Cape Breton - Richmond and as the Minister of Economic and Rural Development and Tourism - econmin@gov.ns.ca
Phone: (902) 424-5790

Thank-you.