Bell blames old cell phones and RV Park boosters for poor cell quality in region

By Craig Westcott/October 21, 2022

Bell Aliant appears to be passing the blame for poor cellular service in this region back to the actions of some customers.

In a letter to Holyrood Mayor Gary Goobie, a senior Bell Mobility representative blamed personal and marine cell boosters as well as the use of old cel phones as among the main reasons for the poor cellular signal in Holyrood and Conception Bay.

Goobie tabled the correspondence at Tuesday’s public council meeting.

“I have one piece of important correspondence that I want to read out tonight,” said Goobie, “with regards to the latest performance analysis update on cel coverage. As a matter of openness and transparency to residents I sent Paul Greene, the senior network advisor of Bell Mobility an -e-mail Sunday past seeking permission to release this overview of the report verbatim. And this morning I received a phone call from Isabelle Boulet, from Fredericton, New Brunswick, and she’s the senior manager of government affairs (Atlantic) to advise they have no objections to releasing this latest update.”

In his letter, Greene told Goobie that Bell is conducting a “performance analysis” on its equipment at a number of sites in this region including Holyrood, Avondale, the Roaches Line, Bell Island and other places. 

“A number of issues have been identified, including equipment adjustments, power fluctuations, and most significantly, boosters,” Green wrote. “Two issues have been identified that customers can help with.”

The first, said Greene, is the use of older phones that don’t have the latest technology. “This will lead to problems in holding a call or data while moving between sites,” he contended.

“Please note, we will not be reviewing social media for customer complaints,” Green added. “It is important that customers contact Bell directly with details regarding complaints and issues, not their local council… It is not helpful to tell us that service is poor everywhere, and everyone is complaining to you.”

Greene said the second “significant issue” is the use of cell boosters at two locations – on the bay by recreational boaters, and at an RV park near Avondale, “where we believe there may be as many as 25 cell boosters in operation. These boosters are not only interfering with each other, but they are also causing problems on the macro sites, causing dropped calls, and handoff issues to other sites. Our engineers believe this may represent 95 per cent of the problem in the Conception Bay area.”

Green told Goobie the company expects the issue to resolve itself this month, “as the seasonal users will close down for the winter, as will recreational boaters. We will continue to monitor and analyze performance on this. Changes will be made next spring for the RV and racetrack areas near Avondale.”

Greene said the company has made the federal government aware of the problem “as system operators cannot control the use of these boosters.”

Goobie said in light of the latest update from Greene, he has informed the company that council will need another meeting with Bell Mobility, “so we can gain a better understanding and get a clearer picture of what all this means from a technical perspective.”

Goobie said the government relations officer in New Brunswick “welcomed that gesture.”