Bell signals it has heard Holyrood’s wakeup call

By Mark Squibb/September 30, 2022

The squeaky wheel gets the grease — or, in this case, a fuming council gets Bell’s attention.

Holyrood Mayor Gary Goobie has been actively campaigning for better cellular phone service in the town for some months.

During last week’s council meeting, Goobie read part of a letter from Paul Green, senior advisor of network at Bell Mobility, that seemed to prove council’s campaign has had some success.

“Mr. Green said, ‘Bell’s performance analysis team will be performing a deep dive on the wireless network performance in the Holyrood area,’” read Goobie. “He would like us to provide a number of customers’ numbers and addresses so that his engineers can review the statistics and the signal performance records from these areas.”

Bell, said Goobie, wants as many numbers as can be provided.

“So, basically, we have to develop a format and process in providing them this necessary information,” said the mayor. “We will work out the details on how we’re going to provide this data in the coming days and advise our residents accordingly.”

During a September 6 council meeting, CBS councillor-at-large Paul Connors, inspired by Holyrood’s campaign, asked his fellow councillors to join Holyrood in it’s fight for better regional cellular service, saying he hoped both towns could coordinate a face-to-face meeting with the cellular providers.

Goobie said he was pleased to hear that Conception Bay South had joined “our campaign for better service throughout the whole area,” but noted he had not heard from other municipalities in Conception Bay Centre.

“So, I don’t know where they stand on this particular issue,” said Goobie.

Both Holyrood and CBS are encouraging their residents to file complaints with the cellular companies to better grab their attention.