Landline disruptions blamed on summer road construction
Summer road construction is taking the blame for increased landline disruptions for residents along the “St. Anns Loop” of the Cabot Trail.
“Due to road construction in the area which began last summer, Bell was required to remove its cabling from the existing pole line,” Isabelle Boulet, a Bell Aliant spokesperson, said in an email statement.
When landline service is down there is no way to call 911 or other emergency services because there is no cell service in that part of Victoria County.
“Unfortunately, there have been several incidents of accidental damage to the temporary cabling that have at times impacted services for local residents,” Boulet said.
“Work on the new pole line was completed in late December, and we will finish the installation of its cabling in the coming days.”
Jim Allen has lived in Tarbot for 22 years. He saw the telephone poles with the cables still attached leaning on the side of the road during construction.
“I was told by a Bell Aliant representative, ‘Well we can’t put the lines in the river because the department of the environment wouldn’t let it,’” he said.
The poles stayed there when blasting of the Barrachois Mountain took place.
“Every time a blast would happen, boulders would go flying across the river, some of them as big as our chesterfield here, land on a line and totally obliterate it.”
These problems caused Allen and his wife, who both need landlines for their medical alert devices, to lose phone service for about two weeks. He knows of neighbours who didn’t have phone service for up to two months.
“It’s just been sporadic but it’s been way too often. If there’s a fire or an ambulance had to be called and the lines are down … nothing can be done about it,” he said, frustration in his voice.
Allen’s medical device is for his implantable cardioverter defibrillator, which helps control his heartbeat. If the defibrillator goes off, the device alerts a hospital in Halifax or Sydney.
Because the landline service has been disrupted so frequently since August, Allen was sent a new device from Medtronic in Toronto that goes through Wi-Fi.
“I had to change over to the new system because the old one was so dependent on the Bell Aliant landline service. I couldn’t take that chance.
“We have had problems here (with landline service) for years but it has gotten a lot worse.”
The consistent problems with landline service in the area inspired Allen to push for a cell phone tower in the area.
In August, he started a petition calling for improvements to the telecommunications services in the area, answers to what caused the disruptions and installation of cell towers. After 903 signatures, it was sent to MP Mark Eyking, MLA Keith Bain, the Victoria County municipality, Bell Aliant and Bell Mobility.
“It’s unacceptable, especially on the world-famous Cabot Trail, that there’s no cell service on many parts of it. We get people stopping here in the summertime asking for directions because they can’t use their cell phones,” Allen said.
“Bell Aliant and Bell Mobility are one in the same. They are one of the largest companies in Canada. They have no reason not to be able to install cell towers.”
Currently, Bell Aliant has no plans to put cell phone towers in the area.
“As the business case for expanded wireless coverage in sparsely populated areas is challenging, we are always open to discuss funding partnerships with all levels of government,” Boulet said.