Some people living in a rural area north of Edmonton have been unable to use their cellphones at home for weeks, after the nearby cell tower was wrecked by vandals.
Renee Hoyme has been travelling from her home in Thorhild County, Alta., to nearby towns for service.
On Thursday, she was in a Westlock parking lot, making calls and running her business in between errands.
She’s been making stops like this since June 14, when Telus says vandals destroyed a 350-foot cell tower near Hoyme’s home.
“Having to come to town every day to make phone calls, doctor’s appointments, business calls — it’s just a nightmare,” Hoyme said.
Elaine Larson is in the same situation as Hoyme. She used to be able to see the cell tower from her yard. Now, she drives down the road until she gets service so she can check her messages.
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“I’m guardian for my brother and for three days they tried to reach me from his hospital that he was having some issues,” Larson said.
“For three days I didn’t have a phone because not everybody goes somewhere everyday.”
Both Larson and Hoyme say the situation is not just an inconvenience, but also a safety problem. They can’t call 9-1-1 at home.
“We’re rural. There’s crime, medical emergencies,” Larson said. “What do we do until (it’s fixed)?”
Hoyme is worried the dead zone will become even more problematic for her work.
“With the busy harvest season coming up, we don’t know what we’re going to be able to do, because we rely on our cellphone reception for communication between the home base, combines, trucks and everything,” Hoyme said.
“As a temporary solution, our teams have adjusted nearby antennas to provide additional coverage to the impacted areas until a new, upgraded tower can be built,” a Telus spokesperson told Global News in a statement. “Once on air, this new tower will bring enhanced wireless service to the area.”
They did not offer a timeline of when a new tower will be installed.
Both Hoyme and Larson say Telus can’t control vandalism, but they want more communication about when a tower will be up and operating.
“Obviously, it’s out of their hands,” Hoyme said. “We just want answers as to what’s going to happen from here on out.”
Telus says the incident has been reported to police. The company is asking anyone with information to tell the local authorities.
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