Cell service sucks big time???

[blackpowder]

Telus has been spotty the last year or so. 4G internet so so for your mobile. Used to be better.
Doesn't sound quite as bad as You guys though.
Thought Sasktel better. Agree they can't keep up and don't need to for rural.
Do you think our sparse population over a large geography is a reasonable excuse. My hired man says he paid half what we do here and one fifth in long distance over in Europe.

[Klause]

It's bs.


Actually telus is better than sasktel here... Same towers but each has its own bandwidth sector. The towers are overbooked....


Too many smart phones and not enough investment in the network.

[bucket]

I once called and complained about cell coverage. Told them the area I was in and all they said was there was no one in that area.

That's when I told them that exactly why I need cell coverage.

[farmaholic]

When you think about the area of Western Canada that needs to be covered and the population density of some areas it isn't surprising coverage can be poor in some spots. Now compare it to some poorer yet heavily populated areas. How good is the service in those countries like the Philippines, were they say everyone has a phone and is cheaper than what we're paying(here, what ever the market will bear, right). If those people had to pay what we are, allot more wouldn't even have one. Would their towers not be over subscribed?

Who ever thought we'd be paying for a tv signal and now a telephone signal.

[Partners]

Seems to vary alot..One day Good, next day zip..We can see the tower 7 miles away..

[food4u]

The local tower is 3 miles(as the crow flies)from me. Out going calls go through local tower but my incoming calls are coming of the tower on the other side of Lake Diefenbaker so I get charged long distance on them... Sasktel still cannot figure out why I am complaining...

[mbdog]

Thinking out loud....how many would pay more for better service....like they had. Games being played???

[oneoff]

In the words of Saktel it is called "congested" towers.

With a demand growth in traffic use of 5% per week one should be able to grasp the magnitude of the problem.
And assuming that carriers could ever get caught up to current demand; just imagine that the situation would immediately degrade again as everyone (and a host of additional uses and users) jump on board.

Problem is with cost and scarcity of additional frequencies with cell telephone and data service. Only fibre optic cable is currently scalable; and rural Sask isn't about to get that in this lifetime.

LTE is for cities. Need a whole slough of additional shorter range towers; so don't see that option soon for rural areas much farther out than city limits.

And the other limited (but maybe viable) options don't get any attention; although the Western Producer did just publish an article about a service which can extend fibre optic service in about 8 mile radiuses.

Too bad our elected representatives can't read; or not be relied on for necessary changes or maybe even get out of the way so some progress could be made.

[malleefarmer]

same problems south of the equator

[blackpowder]

What's your rates down there?
My last bill $85 for unlimited nationwide calling and 1GB data. texting, call display, and voicemail. taxes, fees, etc.
This has improved a lot in the last year. But don't dare go over data etc.
Hired mans bill more. $25 $.25/min. For overseas.$94/5Gb $5/250mb over limit. Unlimited national.