Province needs to step up with cash to boost P.E.I.'s cell service, MLAs told

The third time was the charm for the members of a P.E.I. legislative committee who wanted to hear from Robert Ghiz about the state of the Island's cellular service. 

The former Prince Edward Island premier is now the president and CEO of the Canadian Telecommunications Association, which represents cellular providers Bell, Eastlink and Rogers. 

The standing committee on education and economic growth has twice previously requested that Ghiz answer questions about how and when P.E.I.'s cell service can be improved. It even went as far as threatening to subpoena him after its last meeting in early January.  

When Ghiz finally spoke to the committee remotely from Ottawa on Tuesday, he said repeatedly that provincial governments should look to partner with private providers to improve the service. 

"If I was going to make one recommendation I would … encourage the [P.E.I.] Department of Economic Development to continue working with telecom providers while using examples in other provinces to find best practices to develop ways to fill in the gaps — not only in coverage, but in capacity," he said. 

More people, a strained system

The problems with P.E.I.'s cellular service are clear. The province's population is growing rapidly and more people are using phones for data-intensive things like streaming video that put a strain on the networks. 

The committee of MLAs has previously heard that the province is using outdated technology. Modern 5G service is used only for cellphone data in P.E.I., while voice calls are split between the old 4G network and the even-older 3G network.

The result? Dropped calls or no service at all in places. 

This is most prevalent in rural communities, where a colleague who appeared alongside Ghiz told the committee it's not always economically feasible for private providers to build cell towers to make things work better. 

The association's senior vice-president, Eric Smith, said the telecom industry is building more capacity, but that will take time. 

"It comes down to money. [Reaching] those areas that do not yet have service or are underserved requires funding," Smith said.

Yet he added: "Improvements are being made. They can't, obviously, be made all at once … but there is ongoing investment to improve the capacity and performance of the infrastructure." 

'I concur with what you're saying'

Ghiz and Smith shared industry data with those present at the committee hearing that suggested one out of every 300 or 400 calls on P.E.I. is being dropped, a statistic Smith called "normal or acceptable."

MLAs on the committee suggested the number of dropped calls is closer to one in four — with Ghiz backing them up. 

I still live in P.E.I. so, whether I should or not, I concur with what you're saying.— Robert Ghiz

"I still live in P.E.I. so, whether I should or not, I concur with what you're saying," said Ghiz, who was the province's Liberal premier from 2007 to 2015.

"There's probably a lot of calls that are taking place in areas where there are not dropped calls, and I would say the majority of where you see those dropped calls are … when you are driving."  

At one point, committee chair Brad Trivers asked for details, timelines or something else solid to assure Islanders their service will eventually get better.

He didn't get those assurances, with Ghiz repeating his assertion that the provincial government needs to help fund new towers and networks alongside the private sector.