FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2025
Statement from Matt MacFarlane: Islanders are paying far too much for far too little cell service
Charlottetown, PE – As someone who lives in a part of PEI with poor cell service and has experienced firsthand the frustration that comes with it, I can tell you this is not just a minor inconvenience. Lack of cell service on PEI is putting Islanders’ safety at risk. It impacts families and households daily. It affects the bottom line of many Island businesses. Visitors to our province rely on access to cell service for deciding where to spend their time and money.
Big cell companies might claim their coverage is fine, but ask almost any Islander and you’ll hear the same thing: it’s not. And for the prices we are paying for cell service, it’s just plain unacceptable. This is the same situation we went through to get high-speed internet on PEI: the service providers should be paying for the infrastructure upgrades themselves, but they don’t, and hold out until the service gets so bad that government comes in with a cheque to subsidize the cost. And that’s where we are now with poor cell service.
A year ago, the provincial government set aside $2.5 million of public money to improve this broken system, yet not one dollar of that allocated money has made it out the door. That’s $2.5 million sitting idle while Islanders continue to deal with dropped calls and dead zones.
In a recent news story, Minister Compton told Islanders that a study has been done on the matter, and that Islanders should direct their complaints to the CRTC. We don’t need a study to tell us that cell service is failing across the Island, and individual complaints to the CRTC won’t result in any improvements. It shouldn’t fall to individual Islanders to make written complaints to telecom monopolies or the regulator.
The provincial government should advocate on behalf of Islanders and demand better from the telecom giants and insist that improvements get made. We are much stronger together than we are apart. The PC government must negotiate on Islanders’ behalf, and use the allotted money to support these improvements, including building more cell towers. Islanders deserve cell service that is available where and when they need it and reflects the money we’re paying for it.
Matt MacFarlane
Leader of the Green Party of PEI
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For media inquiries, please contact:
Katie Rankin
Chief of Staff
Office of the Third Party
Tel: (902) 213-6378
Email: kerankin@assembly.pe.ca