This pilot project is set to take place in cottage country north of Toronto. The plan calls for about 20 new cell phone towers, but they’ll all be cleverly disguised as trees of between 25 and 29 meters. This makes them taller than the surrounding trees, hence giving better coverage, but they won’t be as much of an eyesore as a typical cellphone tower.

The “tree” towers are made of steel with fiberglass branches and, because they’re being built on private land and are shorter than 30 meters, they don’t need municipal approval. Disguised cellphone towers are nothing new, though, as the United States sees plenty posing as palm trees, street lights, barn silos, and church steeples, but the tree design is new to Canada.

Personally, I like the idea. Technology should be seamless with its surroundings, while still providing us with all of its wonderful benefits. Like cell phone coverage.

[Source]

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Apparently, Rogers Communications wants to erect a new cell tower in the middle of the Port Coquitlam Cemetary. This tower will be forty meters in height and will provide better coverage to people living in the Port Coquitlam area, which is about half an hour from Vancouver proper.

Rogers says that the wireless service has “grown weak” in certain parts of Port Coquitlam due to the increased customer demand. Rogers would have to pay to lease the land, of course, and the funds would then be reinvested into the cemetary. This revenue is said to be above and beyond the cemetery’s regular budget.

They say that any “significant trees” will not be affected, but how about all the loved ones that are buried close to the loved one? I don’t know about you, but this creeps me out a little. Could there be haunted calls?

Not surprisingly, Rogers will need to negotiate a draft agreement and undergo a public consultation process to see how PoCo residents feel. If they don’t get the tower in the graveyard, where will Rogers turn for an alternate location?

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