(File photo/paNOW News)

By Derek Cornet

vital infrastructure

New cellular tower comes online in Hall Lake

Nov 4, 2021 | 3:56 PM

The approximately 500 residents of Hall Lake are now benefitting from a new cellphone tower paid for by the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB).

“It will be a big help for emergency services like the fire department,” Coun. Norman Ross said. “If we have fires nearby, we will be able to communicate with the outside world with our cellphones. Before we had boosters in our trucks and in our houses and they took up a lot of our power bills too.”

The new SaskTel small community solution cellular services tower is located near Sally Ross School and came online Tuesday. The project cost $377,000 and it was covered by band departments including Education, Health, Indian Child and Family Services, and Hall Lake administration. SaskTel began work on the tower in fall 2020.

“Education was the first department that stepped forward to make an offer and the other departments gradually followed,” Ross said. “We are grateful.”

The LLRIB had been seeking assistance from the provincial and federal governments for a tower in the communities of Hall Lake and Sucker River. Sucker River received expanded cellular services in 2020 at no cost to the band, but Hall Lake wasn’t included.

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Sucker River, along with Brabant Lake, received a 30-metre short-range micro tower to cover those communities and immediate surrounding areas. The new towers allowed customers to have better downloading and uploading speeds, as well as better phone calls.

The new tower in Hall Lake is meant to enhance communication for emergency services, education, safety and security. It is expected to aid students in remote learning and virtual classes.

In a press release issued Thursday, LLRIB Chief Tammy Cook-Searson stated the tower will benefit local residents and traffic on Highway 165.

“In the past, it was challenging for the community, especially during times of emergencies such as the recent four-day power outage and forest fires in 2015,” she stated. “The new cellular tower will help in security for the residents, economic growth and community development.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @saskjourno