On December 16, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG) Council received a report that outlined potential cost savings of switching to a different mobile phone carrier. Savings are estimated to be between $1,600 and $2,000 per month.
SDG Director of IT Services Michel St-Onge explained that the counties’ mobile phone commitment period with Bell lapsed in November 2023 and has been continuing on a month-to-month basis. SDG has been using Bell’s services since June 2017.
New mobile carrier agreements for municipalities are now listed as three-year commitments instead of the previous two.
St-Onge also stated that by switching to Rogers for the counties’ mobile carrier needs, SDG could save at minimum $19,000 per year while at the same time, being included in a more reliable network.
The report then included an outline of how the two carriers compared in terms of reliability and speed of service across the region, with the majority of tested locations demonstrating a considerably higher rate of speed and access to services on the Rogers network. Bell network strength was either very limited or nonexistent in locations such as the Maxville Library and within Green Valley.
“There was nowhere we did the speed test that Rogers did not have service, though, there were multiple spots where Bell had zero service; you were hearing crickets. Overall, the Rogers coverage was superior in our tests,” St-Onge concluded.
Council unanimously approved the resolution to enter a mobile phone agreement with Rogers without any additional questions.
