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Group lobbies for cell service in Kootenay National Park

B.C.'s Kootenay National Park might be rustic, uninhabited, and rugged — but one group says the park's lack of cell phone service also makes it dangerous.

The park stretches from the Alberta border to Radium, B.C., on the Western slope of the Rocky Mountains.

Highway 93 — a popular, heavily-travelled route into Alberta — weaves through the park.

Kootenay region resident Tracy Litchfield says 90 kilometres of the highway has no cell phone service. She's part of a group — the Committee To Secure Communication Facilities in Kootenay National Park — which is trying to get cell service in Kootenay National Park.

"We think it's a safety issue. If you are in an accident of any kind, you have to rely on Parks Canada personnel coming by to find you or a truck driver passing through that has a VHF radio to call in the accident," she explained.

The group has already petitioned the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna to come up with a solution for the national park.

Telus: no power for towers

Telus is the service provider in the area. In a statement to CBC News, Telus said it conducted a feasibility study in 2012 on how to provide continuous cell service along the highway corridor through Kootenay Park.

The company says there is no reliable power source in the park to power its wireless sites to connect them to the broader Telus network.

Putting them in wouldn't be appropriate for the national park, the statement said.

"Creating access roads and using diesel prime generators to power the sites would both have significant environmental impacts on the landscape of a national park," Telus said.

However, company officials said that they would consider the project in future depending on demand and whether alternative power sources like solar become viable.

Listen to the segment on Daybreak South