Recent press releases and advertisements speak about the high percentage of Canada’s population that has access to new advanced mobile wireless services.
I think it is remarkable that such a substantial majority of Canadians, close to 95% of us, fall within the HSPA and HSPA+ coverage. Looking at the competing network maps, we can see that most Canadians are already able to choose between multiple carriers for mobile voice and data services offering speeds that rival and often beat wireline access.
But a closer examination of the maps shows that, while the majority of the population is covered by mobile wireless networks, there is a vast part of the country that is beyond the reach of terrestrial towers.
About 2M Canadians live and work outside the coverage, and many other Canadians sometimes venture out of their urban and suburban comfort zones to go play.
On September 11, 2009, Rick Stephens and his hunting partner, Trent Bossence, were 7 days into a 12-day hunting trip in the Coast Mountain Range of Northern British Columbia. They were 85 miles from the nearest town, Dease Lake and four miles from their base camp, when Rick’s hunting knife slipped and he cut his leg just below the knee, severing a tendon.
We tried to treat my injury and prepare for what we thought would be a long cold night on the mountain. But I happened to have a SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker so Trent was able to instantly send a 9-1-1 message and our GPS location coordinates.
Within 2½ hours of the signal being sent, the rescue team located Stephens and his partner and airlifted them off the mountain. Since it was introduced, the SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker has initiated more than 450 rescues and sent over 10 million check-in and tracking messages around the world.
I have written before about satellite as an important part of the solution for universal broadband service for Canadians in their homes and offices to Canadians who are beyond the reach of terrestrial networks.
Similarly, Globalstar‘s SPOT tracker enables a mobile lifeline for people who venture off the beaten track. The device itself is affordable and its service subscription is only $100 per year.
With Christmas a month away, this look like a perfect gift for camping, hunting and hiking enthusiasts. I suspect that those who have boats in cottage country might consider this as part of our on-board safety equipment.