'Exceptional' influx of tourists in Gaspé overloads cellphone network
Telus says 6 times more users than usual in Percé area
An "exceptional" surge of tourists to the Gaspé is being blamed for an overloaded cellphone network that is preventing locals and visitors alike from making calls or sending texts.
"We can't make any calls and we have to try five to six times to get a line," said Félix Caron, general manager of the town of Percé.
"Basically [tourists] can't believe that we don't have a proper network."
In Chandler, about a 30-minute drive from Percé, people noticed a similar problem during the town's 100th anniversary festivities last month.
Resident Debbie Tremblay says she wasn't able to make phone calls, which worried her given she lives alone.
She only has a cell phone, no land line and is her elderly mother's care giver.
"My mother is in a home and I take care of her. If they would have called me ... I couldn't call them back. They couldn't reach me." she said.
Tremblay says the problems ceased in Chandler after the town's anniversary festivities, but persists in Percé where she works.
Low dollar draws visitors
Telus says their network is seeing six times more traffic around Percé than usual because of "an exceptional number of tourists."
That aligns with what Caron has witnessed. He estimates this has been Percé's best tourist season in 10 to 15 years. The low Canadian dollar and low cost of gas are part of the reason for the spike in tourism, he said.
A spokesperson for Telus said the company changed the configuration of its network to so-called "events mode," which prioritizes calls and 911 service.
The company also said network capacity will be increased so more users will be able to make calls at the same time. Within a few months the network in the whole peninsula will be updated to LTE technology.
In the meantime, Telus offered a number of tips about how to increase cell phone efficiency when networks are overloaded:
- Use Wifi when you can
- Use Wifi to make calls using apps such as "Extend" or "Skype"
- Redirect calls to residential lines
- Turn off applications such as mail in "settings" when not using them
- Turn off 3G so only LTE signal is used