Residents and businesses in the Canadian Northwest and Yukon Territories have come to expect minimal cellular and wireless internet access. That’s about to change thanks to a partnership among Huawei (News - Alert) Canada, Ice Wireless and Iristel.
The trio has formed a strategic partnership to deliver 3G cellular connectivity to some of Canada’s least-connected areas: Canadian Northwest, Yukon Territories and Nunavut, according to a report by website VoIP Provider’s List.
“Ensuring all residents of the Northwest Territories with improved and quality telecommunications products is a top priority for our current government,” said Canada’s NWT premier Bob McLeod.
“Comprehensive access to modern cellular networks and broadband web will expand our overall competitiveness, develop more value-added deployments and render numerous new business models feasible,” he added.
The three regions in Northeastern Canada currently have the worst accessibility and the highest costs for telecommunications in Canada, according to the report. A recent Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission study found that just a third of the Canadian North has wireless Internet available, and only 48 percent currently use 3G cellular services. That differs drastically from the rest of Canada, where there is 99 percent availability.
“We are delighted to be the integral element of the government’s commitment to bridge the digital gaps thru the remote Canadian areas,” said Samer Bishay, president and CEO at Iristel, in a statement.
Ice Wireless-Iristel plans to use the latest networking technology from Huawei to extend access to these as-yet unserved regions, including the remote community of Aklavik. The Aklavik community has a population of 600 and no roads.
“Conjoining the North with the rest of Canada releases a world of opportunities,” added Bishay. “We are targeted to support countryside and destinations, businesses and community entities in the North have dynamic access to fast and affordable telecoms products on the same level, as those enjoyed by the rest of country, and even better.”
The partnership also plans to give these regions fixed line applications, such as home telephone by means of Iristel's Canadian VoIP CLEC infrastructure. The project should not only extend wireless, but also bring more affordable telephony to those who are less included to use cellular phones.
“The North is Canada’s most promising region for business opportunities,” said Huawei Canada president Sean Yang. “We are expecting a lot from cooperating with Ice Wireless-Iristel to ensure residents and business clientele with the most advanced wireless broadband applications.”
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Edited by Rachel Ramsey