Telus Tower Still Down 2 Months After Vandalism, Locals Fed Up

It’s been nearly two months since a Telus cell tower was vandalized and toppled in Thorhild County, north of Edmonton—and residents say they’re still struggling without reliable service.

About 150 people in the area have been left with little to no cell signal after the tower was knocked down and stripped for copper in mid-June. RCMP estimate the damage at $800,000.

Local business owner Wendy Erdmann says not much has improved. Her family’s greenhouse still can’t reliably call customers.

“Ten cents a minute you know, phoning these customers back where we used to be able to call them on the cellphone and you can phone nationwide,” Erdmann told CTV News Edmonton. “I think it should be done faster. A lot of people out here depend on their cellphones.” Their landline is working, but most calls are long distance. Texts are delayed, and mobile calls often don’t go through.

Telus says a replacement tower is expected to be up by September and that it’s trying to boost coverage in the meantime using nearby towers.

“These deliberate acts of vandalism to destroy cell towers represent a significant challenge for our network operations and the communities we serve,” Telus said. The company added that the custom-built tower takes months to plan and costs between $500,000 and $1 million.

Other carriers like Bell also relied on the tower, affecting even more people.

Kristina Krause of Moose Wood Acres says she’s been paying $150 a month for SpaceX’s Starlink to keep her business online—while still being billed by Telus. “They’re still not really willing to work with you or compensate you for it,” she said.

The CRTC says it may soon consult the public about whether telecoms should refund customers during long outages.