Are we going to be able to use cellphones in the O-Train tunnel?

I am asking because when I went to Paris in the late 1990's, they had just completed Line 14 of the Métropolitain.

Cell phone use was possible within the stations and inside the tunnel.

It was at the time one of the very first lines to use articulated trains where it is possible to walk form on end of the train to the other (like the Azur trains in Montréal).

It is also equipped with a platform glass wall with doors synchronized with the trains' doors.

This door system was also part of the original plan for the O-Train as you can see here: (You will also note that this station now named uOttawa was supposed to be underground.

 

Yes service has been assured. I think it was announced a year or two ago. The infrastructure will be provided by Telus if memory serves and they will support all the networks and carriers. 

Yes uOttawa was to be underground. Very odd if it would have been when we see now that the station works perfectly fine above ground. 

Here is an article about the agreement with telus for service in the tunnels: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/city-hall-blog-city-reaches-agreement-for-cell-service-in-the-lrt-tunnel

22 hours ago, Strykker said:

Here is an article about the agreement with telus for service in the tunnels: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/city-hall-blog-city-reaches-agreement-for-cell-service-in-the-lrt-tunnel

The article indicates that people who are with services other than Bell and Rogers may not be able to use their cell phones in the tunnel:

"Pat Scrimgeour, the head of transit customer services and planning, said in an email that customers who pay for cell service through major cellular providers will be able to use their cell phones in the tunnel.

“The city has reached an agreement with Telus,” Scrimgeour said. “We understand that Telus has interoperability agreements with Rogers and Bell. Other cellular providers wishing to serve their customers as they travel in the downtown tunnel can make arrangements with Telus.”"

But the article dates back to September 2017.

Did a quick search on the Internet to but couldn't find any update.

However, since the LRT is a public space, paid for by taxpayers through our three orders of government, I would find it inappropriate if a private company were to decide who can and who can't use the service... without expensive roaming charges.

We have to be informed if the use of a cellphone down there will cost a fortune to those who are not with the "Majors". What if your service is with Vidéotron, Shaw or even Petro Canada?

 

Most of those networks, for example, Fido is powered by Rogers network, Koodo is Telus, Virgin is Bell, Videotron roams on Rogers as needed...

I don't know the specifics for Shaw or Petro-Can but they are probably the same and use one of those main networks. The Petro-Canada is a Virtual Network, and they buy off one of the big ones, I'm just not sure which off the top of my head.

But pretty much 95% if not all should work without issue.

Essentially, if you have zero coverage with your home network, the phone will roam on a partner network, so either way, everyone should have coverage.

33 minutes ago, Shane said:

The Petro-Canada is a Virtual Network, and they buy off one of the big ones, I'm just not sure which off the top of my head.

It's Rogers

9 hours ago, Shane said:

Most of those networks, for example, Fido is powered by Rogers network, Koodo is Telus, Virgin is Bell, Videotron roams on Rogers as needed...

I don't know the specifics for Shaw or Petro-Can but they are probably the same and use one of those main networks. The Petro-Canada is a Virtual Network, and they buy off one of the big ones, I'm just not sure which off the top of my head.

But pretty much 95% if not all should work without issue.

Essentially, if you have zero coverage with your home network, the phone will roam on a partner network, so either way, everyone should have coverage.

Shaw / Freedom runs on their own infrastructure, but have "some" roaming agreements with the other three in the rest of the country. However, those agreements have really still limitations on access, speed and actual prioritization of packets.

Also, if I remember reading right, it seems Freedom won't have access to the infrastructures in the tunnel, as they couldn't reach an agreement with Telus (which had reach it with Bell, Rogers and the city), but that was what I heard a few years back after the service conditions were set.

Either way, it seems we will have, in terms of connectivity, one of the best options available, as not many cities have access to cellular throughout the tunnel (Toronto is only select stations, if on Freedom), allowing people to stay connected like they would currently on the Transitway. The rationale being "if it helps increase ridership and perceived quality, it is worth it".

 

On a unrelated note, which probably should be a thread of its own, I find there is something interesting about the initial proposals and how they involved into the service we'll be having. The design itself, especially those from the uOttawa / Campus station being underground, shared a lot more with heavy rail / subway than a more broad definition of LRT. I think uOttawa benefits quite a bit from being a ground-level station (though quirky in some ways). Platform screen doors (PSD) have been over the years probably one of the most debated topic I've seen through transit projects, as they have been proven to indeed reduce the risks of accidents. However, I can only think of 1 or 2 implementations (Sydney Metro and Disneyland Hong Kong train line), but always in regions with more "clement" weather than what we have in Ottawa. I would assume we would either need all stations to be contained, therefore thermally controlled and maintained more intensively, increasing costs on all front.