Cellphone coverage plans unclear

March 13, 2009

For most people cellphones are a convenience, but in parts of the province they aren't much more than an electronic paperweights.

That's because none of New Brunswick's cellphone providers have service that covers 100 per cent of the province.

Aliant spokesperson Alyson Queen said they don't have service in every part of the Miramichi, but they do have considerable coverage.

"At this point there are no expansion plans for the area."

Aliant serves New Brunswick cellular customers through the Bell Mobility network, but they aren't alone in the province.

Rogers, Virgin and Telus have extensive networks in New Brunswick, which also have gaps in their coverage areas.

Rogers began offering cellphone service in New Brunswick in the late 1980s and covers 94 per cent of the province, while Telus has been providing service since 2002.

Neither Telus or Aliant gave a figure for their coverage area in the province, but a map Telus provided showed they have a large coverage area with sizeable gaps in parts of northern New Brunswick.

Telus spokesperson Megan Fielding said for competitive reasons she couldn't comment on their expansion plans, but she did say Telus has the largest high- speed network in the country.

"We're really dedicated to expanding our coverage to bring out best service to our customers."

Christiane Vaillancourt from Rogers said her company continues to expand their network around the Miramichi and the rest of New Brunswick, but also would not be more specific.

"We have rather ambitious expansion plans, but can't provide details for competitive reasons."

The company is expanding as fast they can, but outside factors like the weather and the size of the workforce affect how fast they can work, she said.

"We are very busy and that's why a lot of our customers are seeing our trucks around because we continue to build our network."

Vaillancourt said those kinds of factors can delay the process and there is no timeline available for when Rogers expects to have complete coverage of the province.

"There are a lot of outside factors so that's why we don't like to give deadlines."

Queen said Aliant's plans are focused on rolling out the next generation cellphone network.

"A lot of the energy is focused on that."

Like Telus, they also have a high-speed network to provide customers with faster data speeds and although Queen didn't know how much of New Brunswick it serves, she did say it covers more than 60 per cent of Atlantic Canada.

"Particularly for data services is where you notice the difference."

Aliant will be expanding region by region depending on where the need is greatest, she said.

"Certainly we will be embarking on either expansion or extension of service as needs require and certainly as we can."