Spotty cell service on Burin Peninsula a risk to road safety
Many people on Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula own cell phones, but some residents are campaigning to get more coverage in the region to get rid of the number of dead zones.
Clyde Hooper has been campaigning for better cell phone service on the Burin Peninsula for the past two years.
Hooper said he was surprised when another cell tower was put up in Marystown, while much of the remaining peninsula is still a cell phone dead zone.
He is particularly concerned about the Burin Peninsula highway, which can get treacherous in rough winter weather.
"You have very little shoulders on the road here. It's total whiteouts, you cannot see where you are to," said Hooper.
"It's happened to me a few times — you just pray that a big truck or the snowplow don't come and hit you or you hit somebody else."
The fire chief in Baine Harbour said he agreed with Hooper's concerns; Christopher Keating said his department has responded to calls about several car accidents in the dangerous, barren stretch of highway.
"Any general public travelling this highway, if an emergency should arise, there's no way for them to get help unless somebody come up and found them and if they find them, the person that found them still have to travel the highway to get help," said Keating.
Can't get updates on emergencies
Keating said it's not only drivers isolated and at risk on Highway 210. He added that the fire department can't communicate with other first responders — including the RCMP — on their way to the scene of an accident.
"While we're on route to an emergency, we can't get updates on the emergency, where exactly it's to. In order for us to call and get updates on the emergency we have to pull over," he said.
For Hooper, it's not just about safety. Campaigning for better cell service is also about getting what he's paying for every month.
"I don't plan on giving up until we get what we deserve — better cell phone service for the good money everybody's paying here on this peninsula," said Hooper.
"It's a bit ridiculous. [In] 2015 you're selling all these phones and your not providing the service — it's just not right."
A spokesperson with Bell said the new tower in Marystown was put up to deal with increased capacity issues, and the problem with putting towers up in less populated areas centre around getting power and fibre optic cables to the site.
According to the spokesperson, increasing coverage for the Burin Peninsula is on a list of long-term plans.
