We had no cell service here until about 3 years ago. Vanderhoof had cell in '92.
We looked into setting up our own “CityWest” and half the “politicos” called the then BC Tel, showed up at a public meet and told them they promised it. That killed things for 3 years.
After that we tried again. We had promised backing from the mills, and the same people did the same thing. This time it resulted in an actual enquiry by Rogers to the Regional District about the availablity of space on the mountain for a tower.
That’s all it took.
Telus knew Rogers was interested and had records of our enquiries into co-location and agreements for cross-billing.
They rushed into town, tore down the old microwave drum that pointed to the mountain (Fibre had just been run*) and installed the antenna on a 40ft tower beside the downtown c.o.
To their dismay (hey I have many, many inside contacts) there was no more old analogue shit to get their hands on so we got digital stuff, texting!
The services peter out on the hill out of town, before the mills. They die off at the bridge, so no one on the other side of the lake can use it (unless you’re right on the shore).
But it scooped 90% of the market, the downtown core.
So Rogers is NOT going to come ‘compete’, and there is no CityWest employing local people.
There are ZERO jobs or employees as a result, and the funniest part is that they’ve been promising to improve the service as soon as they find a mountaintop site to transmit from.
Funny because that drum they removed to put up the antennas pointed at the mountaintop site they already own. But that’s a different dep’t, and they don’t talk!
Now the other tidbit to mention is that the same politico will rehash that old Rogers enquiry to stir the shit around here and cause trouble. Every week some smirking shithead comes into my store asking how I’m going to survive because Rogers is coming. They think Rogers is going to cable the area (90% satellite fed, and served with over a dozen channels over the air by the largest community TV-radio system in BC) and everyone will switch to those wireless cellphone based Internet cards and cable.
Complete ignorance regarding market realities.
*Here’s reality: that fibre got placed for Canfor, and for my ISPs $5K a month T1. It gave them the opportunity to do cell. It gave them the ability to do DSL. ADSL which amazingly petered out just before it reached mills, provincial buildings like forestry which were locked into long term data contracts. These people are not stupid, why eat your babies and give up a $5000/mo link for a $150/mo one that works 3X as fast?
IT also took Ottawa lobbying to force them to wholesale to DSL resellers for less than they retailed to end customers. None of those resellers are large enough to cut sweetheart deals with suppliers to give away free computers and iPods, none of our consumer groups or Tory/Liberal gov’t watchdogs ballsy enough to call them on the fact they really aren’t free (you’re locked in a contract, sometimes even pay up to $11/mo more).
So here’s what’s real: the guy with The Source is making a few hundred a month selling phones and contracts for them. Not enough to hire one single employee to help, but enough to keep maybe one or two printers or satellite receivers more in stock.
There is no Rogers. It flat out don’t work here, and the likelihood of them even dropping $250,000 to get into the remaining market is NIL. If you’re going to open a business, and you even think that you’re going to profit by taking customers away from the other guy, you have already failed. That holds for cell phones, pizza, shoes… anything.
The existing service is not going to improve until there is valid reason to. A fool enters the market, the town doubles in size, the gov’t pays for it with our money, terrorists destroy the existing infrastructure. Strict financial bottom line.
You want DSL here? You can do the Telus deal, or you can see me and I’ll set you with ABC out of Prince George. Either way, you will wait for a week until “the guy” comes and hooks you into the central office VLAN. He “does” this town Tues and Thurs.
If you come to me, you’ll get basic support here in town I do from the small commission I earn. If you want me to come to your house or business and fix it, show me the money and I will be there instantly. If you go with them you will wait three weeks and get billed later.
I know EXACTLY where your arguments come from. The same type of people here use the same type of argument regarding that TV&Radio society I mentioned. Why should they pay a tax toward it when they are on satellite and don’t want to use it? Why should they have to pay for other people? That $40 assessment could be used for something useful, like new sewers. CityWest needs to do what we do, whenever the whining of the well-to-do reaches a certain level we add another TV channel or radio station and shut them up for a couple years. Show them some progress.
