Dropped cellphone calls and overall spotty cellphone service in Penhold has prompted the mayor to launch a letter-writing campaign to bring a cell tower to the town south of Red Deer.
Mayor Dennis Cooper said Tuesday while the town is serviced by two Telus towers in Red Deer and Spruce View, Penhold is located on a slight dip so the frequencies are going over and not reaching the town. During his door-to-door election campaign in 2010, Cooper was bombarbed with complaints about the poor reception within the town.
After speaking to Telus, Cooper decided to make some noise by encouraging residents to write letters requesting a tower in the town.
“All we are doing is trying to put some pressure on them,” said Cooper. “We’re trying to motivate them and get them moving along.”
Cooper said better cellphone reception would help improve the town’s economic growth by encouraging more commercial and industrial development. And it would also improve safety and security within the community.
He said many of the town’s residents are forgoing the traditional house phone and simply using mobile phones.
“You know with everybody from small kids to emergency services carrying cellphones, that would improve the quality of life in Penhold,” said Cooper.
Telus spokesperson Chris Garritsen confirmed there are gaps in Telus’s coverage service in Alberta and Telus is looking into the situation in Penhold.
“We get numerous requests from communities every year to help increase coverage,” he said. “We do our best to respond to those requests.”
Cooper said one option is to place the tower on the Penhold Multiplex site where the town has 88 acres of land.
There are 2,500 residents in Penhold. Cooper said Telus owns many towers in Alberta and many of these towers share with other cellular providers.
crhyno@www.reddeeradvocate.com