Poirier's comment follows Wednesday's ruling by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission that other long-distance services can set up shop in Yellowknife and Iqaluit, along with Fort Nelson, B.C. and Whitehorse, on July 1, 2000.

The CRTC also said NorthwesTel should get Northern long-distance rates more in line with southern rates.

Timelines for competition in other communities served by NorthwesTel have yet to be determined, but a rate schedule, required by the CRTC, should be ready by late 1999 or early 2000.

The North is the last region in North America without toll-call competition.

The CRTC's ruling also means by the summer of 1999, customers will be paying an additional $10 a month for basic access ($4 this August and $6 more next August).

"At the same time, it is expected there will be significant reductions in toll rates," the CRTC said.

Ray Wells, NorthwesTel's vice-president for transformation, said revenue from the local increases must be offset by lowering long distance rates.

"For every amount of revenue we gain (from local rate increases), we have to reduce toll rates by an amount to make those increases neutral."

Wells estimated that long-distance rates will drop 30 to 40 per cent over the next two years. The lower rates will apply to the company's western operating area.

Rates in the western part of the operating territory (the Yukon, northern B.C., and the western NWT) are significantly higher than the eastern operating area, Wells said.

The commission also said breaking NorthwesTel's monopoly would be in the "public interest" -- but it must be done carefully.

Premature competition would "adversely impact" the company's ability to be a full-service provider of last resort, it ruled.

Wells said NorthwesTel already loses money in 86 of the 92 communities it serves.

Loss of market share in lucrative centres could have a negative effect on NorthwesTel's service in other communities.

"As a result of the commission's decision, the majority of NorthwesTel's subscribers will benefit from dramatic reductions in their monthly telephone bills, because of their heavy reliance on long-distance services," CRTC chair Francois Bertrand said.

NorthwesTel's long-distance rates are among the highest in the country, yet its customers are the heaviest users of long-distance services.

Local service, at $16 a month, is now the cheapest in Canada. For fair competition, local rates will have to increase, moving them closer to actual costs, the CRTC said.

NorthwesTel has 110,000 customers in the NWT, Yukon and northern B.C.