Telecom giant Rogers Communications says it has activated five new cell towers along the British Columbia border The highway of tearsmarking “substantial completion” of efforts to improve access to 911 services on the route.
Rogers says in a news release that new cell towers along Highway 16 in northern British Columbia will cover 166 kilometers where gaps in wireless service previously existed.
The company says that when the final two of 11 towers are erected, the new wireless coverage will “ensure continuous coverage” over the entire 720-kilometre stretch of highway from Prince George to Prince Rupert.
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The company says the towers will provide 911 access to all travelers and 5G wireless coverage to its customers.
Mark Kennedy, Rogers’ chief technology officer, said in the release that the nine active towers have bridged “most of the wireless gap between Prince Rupert and Prince George” and will benefit both travelers and residents in the region. , including those from indigenous communities.
The Highway 16 corridor between the two cities is known as the Highway of Tears because of the dozens of Indigenous women and girls who have been murdered or disappeared along the route.
Rogers says the project, once completed, will address one of the recommendations of the Highway of Tears Symposium report submitted in 2006, which suggested that “motorists and hitchhikers have closer access to some form of communication.” “emergency” between communities located on the highway.
Activist Mary Teegee says in the statement released by Rogers that the new cell towers are “lifelines to the North” and establish vital communications networks along Highway 16.
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