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Bridgewater is in desperate need of a new radio tower and the town is currently deciding how to replace the soon to be obsolete one on Aberdeen Road.
The Bridgewater Public Service Commission is recommending that the town explore the option of building a tower without a corporate telecommunications partner.
Andrew Tanner spoke about where the towns’ plans sit currently. “We’re still exploring possible locations and we just made a recommendation to go it alone.”
Initially, the town was looking to partner with Eastlink on a tower. This tower would be bigger than what the town requires as Eastlink would also be using it for some of their telecommunications equipment.
The benefits of building their own tower are twofold, reliability and cost. Tanner says owning your own tower removes a lot of potential mishaps “When it’s just our stuff on the tower things will run smoother, this way we have complete control over who has access to the facilities.” In regards to cost, he says that building a tower by themselves would cost half of what they were quoted on the joint venture.
The current tower set to be replaced hosts radio communications for Bridgewater’s Public Works and Parks Department, three fire departments and the Regional Emergency Management Organization (REMO).
