Rural Ontario village finally gets its cell tower, but service is stuck on hold

People living in a cellphone dead zone southwest of Ottawa finally have a newcommunications tower, but mobile service remains on hold.

That's because a recentlyfinished Rogers Communications cellular tower at the intersection of Tatlock and Clayton roads near the village of Claytonis still waiting to be connected to a power source.

The rural area in Mississippi Millshas long been notorious for its poor 911 coverage and a number of emergencies where prompt cellular service was needed but unavailable.

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One February morning in 2018, a car carrying teenage siblings on their way to school hit black ice and plunged off a nearby bridge and into a river.

The brother and sister managed to escape fromthe icy water but weren't able to reach help because they couldn't get a cellular signal.

"We're very fortunate," said their father Chris Armstronga year after the incident.

Dangerous work, missed opportunities

ThoughSteve Parfitthasworked as an arborist in his native Australia, the United Kingdomand eastern Ontario, the area around Clayton sticks out as particularly dangerous.

"This is pretty, pretty bad," said Parfitt as he took abreak from a job near Clayton's main intersection.

Parfitt said when his crew comes to work inthe areawith their chainsaws, axes, wood chippers and other potentially lethal tools, they work out in advance where an emergency call can be made.

"Every second counts when you have a major cut," he said.

At Fortune Farms, Jamie and Sherry Fortune eagerly await connection of the tower that has risen near their sugar bush.

"It's been frustrating," Jamie Fortune said.

Access to the internet would allow visitors who get lost find to their way out of the woods, and also post about their visit to the farmonsocial media.

"It will bring a whole new level of technology that we can use in the woods," Fortunesaid.

'We're really excited'

The new tower is one of 17 planned for the area under a $300-millionproject announced in December by the Eastern Ontario Regional Network (EORN), the federal and provincial governments,and Rogers.

"Certainly there are definite areas where you're only going to get one bar or no service, and that can be frustrating at times, for sure," saidKurt Greaves, chief administrative officer for Lanark County.

"Clayton has been a dead spot for a long time," he said. "There's been talk in the past about new towers going up but it's never happened, so we're really excited."

Greaves said it was his understanding that Hydro One would endeavour to connect the tower to the electrical grid by July.The electricity transmission and distribution service providerdidn't respond to questions from CBC in time for publication.

Greaves said he hopesBell might also "co-locate" its wireless equipment on the new tower after it finally goes live.

In an email, a Bell spokesperson said there were "no immediate plans to leverage the tower in development," but added Bell would continue to evaluate the opportunity.

Ottawa Morning8:29Village's new cellphone tower doesnt have any juice

Although the new Rogers Communications tower stands completed, the cell company says it cant go live until Hydro One connects it by July. The CAO for Lanark County Kurt Greaves explains .