Wednesday 24 October 2012

Status of Bell Cell Sites in North Sault 24 Oct 12

There are indications that the activation of the Bell HSPA+ cellular service in the North Sault area is getting closer. I understand the new sites and network access links are currently undergoing tests and if there are no problems, the sites may be commissioned as early as the 26 Oct 2012 weekend. Once I can confirm the sites are working, I will publish a blog entry.

A couple of reminders; the new Bell sites are HSPA+ only and will not work with CDMA technology but Bell CDMA phones will continue to work on the Tbaytel network as they have for the past few years. However, since Bell and Tbaytel are using and operating from their own towers in different locations, the coverage for HSPA+ and CDMA may be different. Although the Bell and Tbaytel towers are in close proximity, other technical features may result in different coverage.

Bell data hubs should work on the new Bell sites. Most external antennas and amplifiers can be used with any brand of data hub although it may be necessary to get a different connector or pigtail to connect the coaxial cable to the data unit.

In comments at this blog entry I speculated as follows about the Bell service in North Sault: - "Based on the map projection I am suspicious that they may be adding a cell configuration to one of their existing towers in the north Batchawana Bay area but this is just a guess." It has now been confirmed that Bell will activate a third site in the area of the Hwy 17/Hwy 563 intersection. Also, the site which I have referred to as Bell Goulais (Buttermilk) , Bell calls Haviland.

In summary, the three new Bell HSPA+ sites are Batchawana Bay, Haviland and Heyden.

  Bell North Sault Coverage and Towers Map Showing Coverage (Brownish) and Tower Locations (Red Stars)
Go to the Bell coverage site  to see a manipulable version of the Bell coverage map.

  Bell Tower Locations North SAult Clearer Picture of Tower Locations (Blue Teardrops)