Cell service and high-speed internet are coming to Atlin – with a healthy dose of controversy among the town’s residents.
The announcement was made in the community last week. The BC government is investing $7.9 million into the project, with the CRTC contributing $4.7 million and Northwestel $1.9 million.
According to the press release, Northwestel will connect Atlin to the fibre transport network in Tagish. The cable is being laid along the Atlin Road, mostly underground, Northwestel told the News via email.
According to the press release, the cable will then connect to a cell tower being constructed in Taku River Tlingit First Nation. Bell, who is building the tower, told the News that construction on the tower will begin next month. Cell service is set to launch before the end of the year, a spokesperson for Bell told the News over email.
Nathan Cullen, the MLA for Stikine and the BC minister for water, land and resource stewardship said high-speed internet should also reach the community before the end of the year.
“I'm hoping for maybe little later this fall, early winter. Worst case, just after New Year,” Cullen said. Installation of the glass fibre-optic wire can be tricky in the winter, he said, as cold temperatures can shatter the glass.
According to Cullen, completion of the project also depends on BC Hydro’s ability to replace the hydro poles in Atlin and Taku River Tlingit First Nation. The poles in the community have aged and can’t take the extra weight of the fibre cable, said Cullen.
Once the old poles are replaced, Northwestel says it will lay the cable and connect homes and businesses in the community to the high-speed internet.
Currently, Atlin residents are able to use Starlink to access the internet, Cullen said. However, he said he has talked to residents and businesses in the community that pay up to $300 a month for the service.
“Having a fixed line into the community will give more choices, more reliable choices, and hopefully much more affordable options,” he said.
For Jen Stronge, the increased connectivity can help her respond to emergencies. Stronge is a registered nurse in Atlin. Stronge says she and other nurses need to rely on a radiophone in emergencies.
“The big advantage to having a cell phone over the radio is that it's more portable, and I have the ability to call other people as well,” said Stronge.
If more than one nurse is needed for an emergency, currently Stronge needs to call their landline and hope they’re at home. If they aren’t, she says she has to call the RCMP to go looking for the other nurses.
According to Stronge, ambulances in the area also rely on radio.
“They have to go through their central dispatcher, which is in Kamloops, and so once they're on a call, they have no way of contacting us,” Stronge told the News. “Often, what they'll do is they'll call us from the station to let us know they're going out to a call, and this often happens in the middle of the night.”
Cell service will enable the ambulance to reach Stronge while they’re coming back from a call, and give her time to get to the health centre, she said.
Earlier in her career, Stronge says, she got a call from a woman whose husband wasn’t breathing, and the couple were on a boat docked in town.
“I had to stay where I was in my house in order to call for the ambulance. And then I get the dispatcher, and they're asking me 8 million questions. And I was just like, ‘Look, I just need to go down there so somebody is helping this woman provide CPR to her husband.’”
Rebecca Osborne is also looking forward to the installation of cell service.
Her senior parents live in Atlin, and she lives in Alberta.
“A lot of times I'll try and call them and I can't get through,” said Osborne. “It's just a little bit stressful for, you know, a daughter trying to get a hold of her parents and can't get a hold of them, you kind of think the worst sometimes.”
She said her parents are also looking forward to the cell service, as they will be able to contact each other more easily when her father is at work.
Barb Dawson, also a resident of Atlin, said the new cell service will take away from the quaint nature of the small town.
She said she doesn’t think that the connectivity will improve anything about the town. The cell service won’t extend that far out of town, she said, and that is also an issue that will have to be dealt with at some point.
“But for now, it's just for the town. It'll be convenient if you need it, but it's not something that's necessary,” Dawson said.
Osborne said she doesn’t think cell service will affect the tight-knit community.
“A few years ago, one of the neighbours was replacing his roof, and all the neighbours came along and helped, including my dad. He was up there helping replace this roof,” she said. “They're a really strong community. I don't think bringing in cell phones is going to change that and change those people.”
Contact Talar Stockton at talar.stockton@yukon-news.com
