Over the last couple of years, multiple Squamish Chief readers have noted that cell service in the Sea to Sky Corridor seems spotty.
Locals have said that it seems to have gotten worse over the last 18 months to two years.
One such resident is John Redpath, who lives around Tantalus Road.
"When I get a business call on my phone, I either switch to FaceTime, or I have to call them back on my landline. If I stay on my ... iPhone, I am always told I’m dropping out. It drops out every time," he said. He noticed the problem started about two years ago.
"I’ve been a customer in Squamish for at least 10 years, and there was no problem anywhere—trails and all neighbourhoods."
Squamish’s Jason Ross has had several issues with his cell service in Squamish.
“The service is not great in areas inside townhouses and apartment buildings all over town,” he said. “The neighbourhoods with the worst service are in Valleycliffe and in the Pia Road area in the Garibaldi Highlands,” he added.
The reception doesn’t seem to be much better, whether it is Rogers or Telus, two of the big players in the region.
One reason for the reception issues could possibly be the increase in development, says David Michaelson, University of British Columbia, professor of electrical and computer engineering.
"Maybe things are blocking those sites that weren't blocking them before. That can certainly sometimes cause problems," he said.
"So, if there's been a lot of construction, maybe blocking some of the lines of sight … that could be changing things," he said.
(See map of local cellphone tower locations.)
Routine testing by providers is usually done by drive testing, he said, so driving down the road to see how the cell service is, which doesn’t take into account what reception is like in all buildings.
Not the move to 5G?
The fifth generation of mobile networks (5G) uses higher radio frequencies that are less cluttered, which allows it to carry more information at a much faster rate.
Some locals have pondered if the move to that technology, which started rolling out in the Lower Mainland in about 2020 for Rogers and Telus, is to blame.
Michaelson says nope.
"The move to 5G would not really be the answer because 5G has been installed on top of the existing 4G networks, and for the most part, 5G doesn't offer voice. It's mostly just data. They still use the same 4G infrastructure for voice. So, if it's a case of dropped voice calls, it would not be reasonable to assume, at first glance, that any 5G capability was going to impact any of the voice infrastructure."
Michaelson said providers can't realistically check inside every building or even buildings in neighbourhoods, so they need to be told if the coverage isn't up to snuff.
Is mountainous terrain an issue?
Does our mountainous terrain play into the problem?
It definitely doesn't help, said Michaelson
"You increase the probability you're going to get areas where the signal drops out, for sure," Michaelson said.
"It's certainly worse when you have that terrain, when you have lots of tall trees, or you have lots of tall buildings, and it's certainly much better in places like the Southern U.S., say Houston or Dallas or in Arizona; those are good places [for coverage], because it's flat and not a lot of foliage, and it's almost ideal," he added.
"It is no accident that in the United States, the very first cellphone tests were done in Chicago because Chicago was literally flat as a pancake."
Improvements coming
“Geography and building structures can impact the strength of cell signals. In this case, there are many new residential buildings that have been developed in recent years,” a spokesperson for Rogers said.
“We’re committed to delivering a reliable, consistent wireless experience for our customers and are enhancing our network in Squamish to strengthen connectivity for residents and businesses in the area. Two new cellular sites are expected to be completed by end of year, with services turned on soon after.”
The new cellular sites that are expected to be completed are in the Garibaldi Highlands and downtown, with additional sites being considered for the area, according to the spokesperson.
The spokesperson noted that when reports are received on cell coverage issues, Rogers’ operations team will review and conduct tests as needed, including drive and spot tests.
A Telus spokesperson told The Squamish Chief that the company regularly evaluates its networks “to deploy more efficient and advanced technologies that provide our customers with the best experience possible.”
The spokesperson noted that factors that can impact wireless connectivity include distance to the tower and other buildings or construction materials that could obstruct signals.
“In response to increased demands for wireless bandwidth in Squamish, Telus completed a series of network upgrades in November to significantly increase capacity,” the spokesperson said.
“Additionally, we will begin another network upgrade in Squamish early next year to further improve voice and data services for customers on our network by spring.”
Independent consumer help
Michaelson said that cell service providers don't want service to be poor; it doesn't serve them, he said, so reaching out to them is the first step for unhappy consumers.
If that doesn't work there is a free and independent option.
The Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS) is an independent organization whose mandate is to help resolve customer complaints about Canadian telecommunications and television service providers.
“We are the ombuds service for the telecommunications industry. What that means is that consumers can come to us and file complaints about their service providers. Our services are free for customers, and we offer services in both English and French. We are an independent agency that helps customers resolve problems that they haven't been able to fix directly with their service providers,” said Janet Lo, assistant commissioner of the CCTS.
The organization has 400 service providers that they can help customers with, and over the past 15 years, they have helped to resolve over 190,000 complaints, ranging from those about reception discussed here, and also complaints about landline service, internet and subscription television services.
According to Lo, nine out of 10 complaints that CCTS accept are resolved within 20 days, to the satisfaction of both the customer and the service provider.
The only caveat is that before complaining to the organization, the consumer must have first tried to resolve the complaint with the provider.
“Bring the issues to their attention, give them a chance to address it or resolve it. Make clear what it is that they want, and if they're not getting a resolution there that's satisfactory, then they can come to CCTS to file a complaint,” Lo said.
In terms of broader issues that impact many customers, such as in Squamish with reception, the CCTS can also play a role.
“We track every complaint that comes to CCTS, and we report to the [Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission].And the CRTC expects us to report on all of the complaints regularly to the industry,” Lo said.
“Our annual and mid-year reports … all of that data is not only published publicly for the regulator and government to see, but [it] is also shared directly with service providers, and we present it to make sure that the landscape understands the trends of what's happening for consumer experiences, and they have an opportunity to consider where improvements might need to be made to better serve consumers.”
According to CCTS data from Aug. 1, 2023, to Jan. 31, 2024, quality of service was the fourth raised issue for consumers.
There were 1,756 issues about quality of service; 761 of those were wireless-related.
“So we do see wireless quality of service issues. It is one of the top issues we see,” Lo said.
