Originally published August 17 2023
A company called Shared Tower, out of Oakville, has put forward a proposal for a 30-metre monopole tower structure to be located at 1022 Pelham Street at Welland Road, on a neighbourhood commercial-zoned property currently occupied by a Circle K gas station and convenience store, and adjacent the Pelham Hills plaza. The tower is engineered to accommodate three cellular service providers, and is anticipated to address coverage and capacity issues in the area. Shared Tower maintains that the tower would have “no impact on the adjacent land uses or public realm, and is aligned with municipal and federal policy.”
Shared Tower Senior Planning Manager Cheyenne Zierler tells PelhamToday that assuming the best-case scenario, “the goal is to have the tower in service for Q1 of 2024,” meaning sometime between next January and March.
“The intent of the proposed tower is to aid in strengthening the telecommunications network in the area to better support increased demands for consumer connectivity,” said Zierler, “and the digital economy, and health and safety measures in communities."
Zierler said the anticipated coverage radius for the tower is approximately 5 km.
Canadians pay some of the highest internet and cellphone service fees in the world. Consumers have been crying out for more competition to better protect them from escalating fees, and leverage better service.
Currently, there are three big players in the marketplace, which control approximately 85 percent of the business nationally: Rogers Communications (with 10.5 million subscribers), BCE (formerly Bell Canada, with 9.8 million), and Telus Corporation (9.5 million). Rogers carries Rogers Wireless and the Fido Mobile brand, while BCE covers Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile, and Telus handles Telus Mobile and Koodo. Providers have agreements to share cell towers and infrastructure in many communities.
In addition to high fees, the Big Three also have a track record of spotty service in certain areas, Pelham being one of them.
Brandi Merker of Telus Public Affairs recently responded to a question about the reasons behind poor reception in Pelham, and said “Telus does not own the wireless infrastructure in Pelham. We have reached out to our network partners [Bell] to ensure that they are aware of the current situation, and will continue to collaborate with and support our partners on this matter. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank our customers for their patience.”
Lee Salter lives near Haist Street and Welland Road in Fonthill, and said that he called Telus in regard to his poor cellphone reception, “and was told outright it was an issue with no estimated time for a fix. They gave me a $10 discount per month, and suggested that after my term [contract] was up, that I should change providers. They said the only way they would do something is if more people complained.”
Telus customer Jennifer Goertz lives on Pancake Lane near Haist Street in Fonthill, and operates a daycare service out of her home. She depends on strong cellphone service to keep in touch with parents who have children enrolled in her business, and has spent significant time talking to phone companies and politicians about how the situation can be improved in Pelham.
“The main cellphone tower of interest is a Bell tower located on the north side of Highway 20 near Lookout Point Golf Course,” she said. “Bluntly put, the tower is not tall enough. The elevation of my house is 213 metres above sea level, and that tower is just 236 metres above sea level. Anyone whose house is below mine will experience the same issues, because even though we are connecting to the tower, it’s at a lower frequency, and not strong enough to support calls and data. If you are on the south side of Highway 20, there are also a lot of trees and houses for the signal to pass through, which act as a barrier. Bell and Telus customers in Fonthill suffer from the same issue. And unfortunately, you cannot change the tower your phone connects with.”
"They said the only way they would do something is if more people complained”
According to Goertz, when it comes to cellphone service, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
“When I spoke with Telus, they told me that they only had six other tickets created for technical support for dropped calls and service interruptions in Pelham,” she said. “People need to prioritize calling Telus and Bell to log a ticket. Complaining among ourselves online achieves nothing. People should also log a complaint with the CRTC [Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission] and CCTS [Canadian Commission for Complaints of Telecom-Television Services] which work to resolve consumer disputes about wireless, phone, internet and TV service.
A link to the complaint form is provided here:
Goertz has also created a Change.org petition for improved cellphone service in Fonthill and Fenwick, which has garnered almost 400 signatures.
What can a disgruntled Pelham cellphone user do in the interim?
At home, you can switch your cell calls to a WiFi connection. Purchasing a signal booster is another option, which may or may not be beneficial, given the landscape where your house is located. Last resort: use your home landline, if you still have one.
Comments online from other cellphone customers suggest that Rogers is probably the most reliable bet in this area. But if there is a mass exodus of local customers to Rogers, it’s inevitable that system will be overloaded, and have the same issues. And with new subdivisions being built in Pelham, the problems are only going to get worse for all providers if they don’t upgrade their towers and other infrastructure.
The common perception is that Bell, Telus, and Rogers are loaded, and can easily afford to build more towers to improve cell service. However, Telus recently announced 6,000 job cuts, after reporting a 61 percent drop in second quarter net income. Telus said it is “adapting to a rapidly transforming industry,” and that issues such as regulation and competition have prompted the need to reduce its payroll.
Shared Tower has slated a public open house on their proposed tower at 1022 Pelham Street for Wednesday, August 30 at 5:30 PM, to be held in the Town Hall council chambers in Fonthill. The public is invited to participate in the process.
Niagara West MP Dean Allison, who is in communication with Bell to see if its service can be improved in Pelham, commented that the Shared Tower proposal, though promising, may not be embraced by local residents.
“It will be interesting to see how the residents respond,” he said. “My experience has always been that people want a tower for better reception, just not in their neighbourhood.”
