Full cell coverage available at most métro stations
You can now call, text and video chat at nearly all of the city’s métro stations if your mobile phone has a cellular plan.
A project that began in 2014 is just months away from completion, says the Société de transport de Montréal.
On its website, the STM says three out of the four métro lines — Orange, Blue and Yellow — now have full cellphone coverage.
Only 12 out of 68 stations remain to be served: the Green Line east of Viau station, and between Angrignon and Lionel-Groulx stations on the western side of the same line.
The STM said the eastern part of the Green Line will be completed by the end of the year, while the western side is to be done by the beginning of next year.
The Big Four cellular providers — Rogers, Telus, Bell and Vidéotron — have invested $50 million to build the 4G LTE network. They pay the STM an annual fee to access the network, and they pay rent for the space they take up.
Deploying the network has been no easy task, as fibre-optic cables were laid through the tunnels, hooking up to antennae on the métro platforms and throughout the stations. The wires lead to a central control building.
The work has been done in the roughly two hours per night that the métro system closes, with the help of a platform on wheels that fits onto the tracks.
Montreal is ahead of Toronto in cellphone access, as the TTC’s 74 stations are wired for cellphone service, but only one provider — Freedom Mobile — provides service. Bell, Rogers and Telus have said they prefer to build their own network.