The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The fact that Snow Lake does not have cell phone service has been both a benefit and a detriment to the community; however, if you were to take a poll (and they did), people would overwhelmingly be in favour of it. Nonetheless, there is no need for polls, telephone or otherwise, as Snow Lake will soon have this much needed, long awaited, and eagerly anticipated service. With little flourish other than a news release placed on their website and sent to key people, MTS Allstream Inc. announced an expansion of its CDMA wireless network that will bring coverage to 11,000 people in eight rural Manitoba communities in 2010. Besides Snow Lake, those communities are Churchill, Split Lake, Oxford House, Bisset, Middlebro, Ebb and Flow, and Fisher River. These new cellular sites represent an initial investment by MTS of approximately $2 million, and they will bring subscribers the ability to make phone calls, access e-mail, and browse the Internet using a mobile device in these communities. Snow Lake Mayor Garry Zamzow advised that the Town of Snow Lake has over the past number of years had frequent discussion s with MTS. "Actually, the day after HudBay's Lalor announcement was made, our CAO and I were on the phone to MTS," said Zamzow the day prior to the announcement. "They weren't aware of all the implications that was going to create, so we very quickly brought them into focus on what the potential was for MTS. Long story short, we've had follow-up discussions, but when we met with their vice-president at the AMM (Association of Manitoba Municipalities) conference in November, well, from that point on everything has been extremely positive." Although, Snow Lake's town councils have lobbied hard for the service over the years, Zamzow wasn't about to take all of the credit. "There have been a number of players in making cell phones happen," he said. "Obviously, the Town of Snow Lake have been very active, but there has also been help from industry. We know that MTS has had private discussions with industry, and we have met with various Mines ministers who have been involved. So there have been a lot of parties who came together to make it happen." Snow Lake CAO Jeff Precourt concurred with Zamzow, but also offered up information on another item that helped Snow Lake's case for getting a service most people in the province already enjoy. "Our Sustainable Plan was an excellent selling tool for getting cell phone service," said Precourt. "In some of the meetings we had, having a finished plan with all its population and housing projections, went far in making it ultimately happen. It filled in the blanks between them looking at a press release on Lalor and a position from where where they could make a business case for providing the service." It seems MTS also appreciated the communication that took place in bringing their Snow Lake service to fruition. "MTS respects the dialogue, which has taken place over time with the elected officials and community representatives of Snow Lake regarding this issue," said spokesman Greg Burch. "We thank the people of Snow Lake for their business and look forward to serving them." Work on installing the sites is already under way in several locations, and MTS expects wireless services to come on line in these areas throughout the first half of 2010. In Snow Lake it is rumoured but unconfirmed that this will happen by April.
