In spite of a recommendation by the city's Director of Planning and Engineering that more consideration be given before opting to go ahead, Yorkton City council members voted in favor of adding more cellular towers to improve service in this area.
Doug Grant, the province's wireless manager, was in Yorkton Monday to present to council a plan that will increase both coverage and data capability in the city, something that will have a growing need as more people go wireless and depend on coverage.
Grant says currently 10 per cent of households are wireless only and the trend is on the rise. Fifty per cent of all 911 calls are made from cellular phones and the use of wireless data is also on a steady incline with people depending on their phones for internet and online related uses.
SaskTel's challenge he says, is that the only way it can up local usage capability is by adding additional towers. "There is a finite amount of Spectrum that SaskTel is licensed to use. Once we have used all of the Spectrum in a tower's area, we must build more towers to accommodate the demand for service." Data speeds are also directly related to demand, the number of phones and signal strength in a given area.
When SaskTel first introduced cellular technology in 1989, coverage was more aimed at outdoor and automobile coverage but times have changed says Grant. "Today, 80 per cent or more of cellular usage is inside buildings. Building structures attenuate the signals that reach wireless devices. Different building types cause varying signal losses... making it difficult to serve." More towers mean more strength and better service.
Currently, there are six towers in Yorkton. Four more will now be added, greatly increasing the level of service adds Grant.
Twenty-five feet in height and conforming to Canadian safety standards, the towers will be strategically placed in non-residential areas.
With landlines on the decline and a greater dependency on cellular devices, the additions to the city are needed says Grant.
"For households in Yorkton with only cell service for voice, there is a potential for a number of households to have no 911 service at times (currently)."
Additional towers will remedy this problem.
Set up is slated to begin this fall and it is hoped the work will wrap up before winter.
