I was at a municipal telecommunications meeting last night.
The meeting was looking at developing a protocol for the placement of telecom infrastructure within the community. I was struck that community groups who are engaged by the subject appear to be uniformly opposed to new towers. Some of the opposition is based on aesthetics; some is based on generally discredited health concerns.
But most importantly, it strikes me that there must be a constituency who really want improved wireless coverage, but aren’t showing up to advocate for better service.
Four years ago, I wrote a post that summarized my views: Cell phones save lives. As I wrote then, we want our doctors, our police, our families, our friends to be available when we call. We want to be able to place calls, connect our devices.
The vast majority of Canadians now have mobile devices. They presumably want a strong, reliable signal from their service provider.
City councillors typically hear from community groups complaining about new antennae being located in their neighbourhoods. It is time for the other side to come forward. If more people are like me and want 5 bars, why aren’t they writing their city officials.