N.B. community frustrated over poor cell service

The Town of Salisbury, N.B., is calling for improved cell service.

The growing community of Salisbury, N.B., is grappling with a persistent problem familiar to many Maritime towns: unreliable cell phone service.

Fed-up residents and local officials are urging telecommunications companies to improve connectivity in the area.

A cell tower looms over the intersection of Main Street and Fredericton Road, but appearances can be deceiving.

“Terrible,” says Salisbury resident Brendan Lewis when asked about the service. “I can’t even check a work email until I get home at night. Even today, this morning, trying to get a hold of my boss, it took me 14 tries before I could get a phone call to go through.”

Rogers owns the tower, which is expected to be operational next year. Both Rogers and Bell have cell towers in the community.

Beyond dropped calls, concerns escalated last year when an emergency alert raised questions about residents’ ability to receive critical information.

“There were concerns at the time about residents whether or not they would have been able to receive that emergency alert,” says Austin Henderson, CAO of the Town of Salisbury. “It’s 2025 and we should all be able to make a phone call or send a text message, regardless of where we are, especially on the main street of an established community.”

Henderson highlights the scope of the problem. “The town’s quite vast. We have about 338 square kilometres in our new municipality. And this isn’t just an isolated issue here in our downtown area, our downtown core, but ultimately this vicinity has about 2,500 residents. But the highway area, towards Trans-Canada, services about 16-17,000 cars a day. Traditionally, that’s been an area that has had good service, and the telecom providers are letting us know that those towers, even in that area, are seeing more and more congestion.”

He also notes a disconnect between what residents are experiencing and what they’re being told by their providers. “We’re hearing that clients and customers are calling their providers and are being told that they are not aware of issues in the community, which we know, for a matter of fact, is not the case.”

The municipality has been meeting with cell providers to push for improvements.

Shelli Geldart, who runs a pharmacy downtown, says the unreliable service impacts her business and customers.

“I was out yesterday delivering to a client, and we have a handheld debit machine, and we take payment in that way, which is important for somebody who is housebound, and we couldn’t get it to work,” Geldart says. “We have, clients that are coming in to pick up their prescription medication. And lots of times there are some adjustments or some inquiries that they have, and they want to look at their coverage. Their provider provides websites, and they can’t access those websites because they don’t have cell coverage to do that. So that makes it difficult to get the answers in a timely manner.”

Henderson echoes the sentiment saying, “I think any resident would tell you that they want to be able to make phone calls and send text messages without having to put the phone on top of their head and go to certain corners of buildings or certain parts of town, even.”

The town is urging residents to report every outage to their provider, with the exact location, to push for stronger coverage in Salisbury.

Bell says it is aware of the issue.

In an email to CTV Atlantic, Geoff Higdon, Senior Manager for Bell Communications, said, “Bell operates more than 1,600 wireless sites across Atlantic Canada, 517 of which are in New Brunswick — more than all other wireless carriers combined — and continues to expand coverage in key areas throughout all four provinces. We’re also working closely with provincial governments on cost-sharing opportunities for new wireless infrastructure, while investing millions each year to upgrade our existing network to enhance quality, speed, and meet growing demand. In the Salisbury area, our team has been in regular contact with officials at the municipal level to discuss addressing increased wireless traffic due to population growth and greater wireless usage. We’ve adjusted our network equipment to optimize reception and are exploring other options to continue delivering reliable service in the area.”

A Rogers spokesperson said, “We know how important it is for New Brunswickers to stay connected, and we are committed to bringing all Canadians a reliable wireless experience as we make ongoing investments in our national network. We cover nearly the entire population of New Brunswick with our wireless network and are continually making upgrades. In the town of Salisbury, we will be adding equipment and turning on service for our customers on the new site in 2026 to bring enhanced 5G service to the community.”

Nick Kyonka, director of marketing and communications for the Canadian Telecommunications Association, noted the challenges of providing comprehensive coverage in New Brunswick.

Kyonka says that while specific infrastructure projects vary depending on a number of variables, he notes that the New Brunswick government has estimated it would cost approximately $100 million to address coverage gaps in the province. The members understand how important reliable cellular service is for New Brunswickers and have made significant investments to expand and improve mobile networks across the province. While progress continues, more work remains. The industry is deploying new technologies such as satellite connectivity and 5G, which offer promising solutions for extending coverage and increasing network capacity.

That said, New Brunswick’s vast geography, low population density, and rugged terrain present real challenges, making infrastructure deployment both complex and costly. Achieving mobile coverage in all corners of the province, and upgrading existing networks, cannot be accomplished through private investment alone. It will require meaningful partnership and support from government to make it a reality.

Kyonka said they welcome opportunities to work with government partners to accelerate progress, building on approaches that have proven successful in other provinces.

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.