Spotty service, U.S. roaming charges leave Somerset woman calling for answers

A southwestern Manitoba woman, Teresa Acheson, is raising concerns over high U.S. roaming charges she incurred despite never leaving her community. In July 2022, Acheson was billed over $100 in roaming charges by her cell phone provider, Bell MTS, even though she remained in Somerset, a town 50 kilometres from the U.S. border.

Initially, Acheson was notified by her phone that she had entered the U.S. and would be charged $13 per day for unlimited calls and texts. However, she was unaware that she was still in Manitoba. Over the course of 10 months, she received 10 separate billings totaling more than $100 for international roaming.

Acheson complained to Bell MTS, but was told by a representative that the charges were valid. The representative suggested she disable roaming capabilities on her phone, but this would make it difficult for her to connect to any cell tower in the region due to weak signal strength.

Acheson moved back to Somerset in January to care for her elderly parents, and she claims she had better cell service in remote areas of the northern territory than she does now. She says that her experience highlights the need for improvements in cell service in remote border communities.

Bell MTS spokesperson Elise von Scheel explained that customers travelling near the Canada-U.S. border may pick up cell signals from the U.S. due to proximity to towers and geographic terrain. The company has systems in place to monitor signal registrations near the border and tries to keep customers connected to its network when possible.

Acheson plans to escalate her complaint with Bell MTS and submit one to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and the Commission for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS). The CRTC is aware of concerns around roaming charges in some border communities but does not keep statistics on complaints about false roaming charges.