Cellphone service spreading to half of métro’s stations

You can now use your cellphone in half of the métro’s 68 stations.

A consortium managed by Telus, with Bell, Rogers and Vidéotron, has been working to integrate cellular service into the métro network since 2014. The L’Acadie station on the Blue Line was the latest station to come online on July 13. Most of the work is done overnight by employees of the four companies.

The LTE network now covers the Orange Line between Côte-Vertu and Mont-Royal stations and on the Green Line, between Beaudry and Lionel- Groulx. The Blue Line is covered between Snowdon and L’Acadie on the Blue Line, and the entire Yellow Line has coverage.

Deployment efforts for the second half of 2017 will be north of Mont-Royal and will complete the Blue Line up to Jean-Talon. Work will be done to connect the Orange Line stations north of Jean-Talon in 2018.

Initially pegged as a $50-million investment, the STM is actually making money on the deal, chairperson Philippe Schnobb said when it was unveiled.

The cellular providers are paying the STM for use of space to provide network service, and will pay an annual fee to have access to the métro network.

Montreal is the first city in Canada to get an underground cellphone network, and one of the first in the world. The network is due to be completed in 2020.