IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY - Cambridge Bay will be the third Nunavut community to have cellular phone service come September.

Northwestel-owned Latitude Wireless will install a satellite receiver in the community this fall, with service available "by September 1," according to marketing manager Chris McNutt.

Bryan Fotheringham, left, answers a question about a cell phone feature while speaking to Craig Roach at the Sugar Rush Cafe in Rankin Inlet last February. Cambridge Bay is the next Nunavut community in line to receive cell phone service via Latitude Wireless, by September. - NNSL file photo

"Experience tells us that that's as accurate a prediction as we can make."

Cambridge Bay joins Rankin Inlet, Fort Simpson and Norman Wells as communities that have received the wireless treatment by the company over the past two years.

Baker Lake and Arviat are set for cellular service by October 1, added McNutt.

"At the moment, we only have plans for the three that are announced," said McNutt. "They will have coverage within the communities, with a minor amount of coverage extending beyond."

Just how many kilometres outside of town the signal will cover will remain unknown until the service is actually up and running.

"The coverage is not definitive," said McNutt. "It's a radio signal, so similar to any radio signal, it's subject to weather conditions. And with cellular networks in general, it depends on the load of the network at that actual moment."

Customers will have to be patient with the service, he advised.

"Within a building, sometimes coverage can be more reduced than if you just stood outside the building.

Latitude Wireless is speaking to several Cambridge Bay businesses about coming online as the company's cell phone and service package dealer for the community, said McNutt.

"The dealer will be in place in time for the service," he said.

The Sugar Rush Cafe sold as many as 65 phones in one day when Rankin Inlet got cell phone service in February, according to co-manager Tara Tootoo-Fotheringham.

In Rankin, cell phone packages offering unlimited long distance calls after 6 p.m. and on weekends and 400 daytime minutes a month came at a price of $72.

The average price of a phone with a three-year plan was between $49 and $99.

Rod Nadon, general manager of Jago Services, a plumbing and mechanical outfit in the hamlet, said it was about time Cambridge Bay received the same service.

"A lot of business and government people up here have become dependent on cell phones when they're down south, and they sort of lose it when they get here."

Nadon may even consider use cell phone for Jago.

"If the price right, I would consider using it for communication between my people in the field."