ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - Fort Liard is about to become the fourth community in the NWT where residents can use Bell Canada's new HSPA+ mobile network, the communications giant recently announced.

HSPA+, which stands for High Speed Packet Data, allows wireless devices like the popular iPhone and Blackberry Gold to operate within a region or community.

The impending launch of Bell Canada's new HSPA+ mobile network in Fort Liard means customers there will be able to use popular Internet-equipped phones such as Apple's iPhone. - Jeanne Gagnon/NNSL photo

So far, only Yellowknife, Fort Smith and Hay River share that privilege, with Bell having officially launched the new network late last year.

"I can't go into details as to when it's going to happen, but shortly on our road map for the near future is the launch of HSPA+ (for Fort Liard)," said Bell spokesperson Julie Smithers, adding that the service will likely launch this year.

"With HSPA+, customers can get Internet speeds of up to 21 megabits per second on the download."

Translation: "It's very fast; it's the same speeds we're offering in downtown Toronto that are going to be coming to Fort Liard."

Bell Canada is a major cell phone provider in the North, serving Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, Fort Liard, Inuvik, Tuktoyaktuk and Iqaluit.

Customers with wireless-Internet-equipped phones in those communities currently experience speeds ranging from 50 to 70 kilobits per second, according to Smithers.

Fort Liard customers will also be able to access the new HSPA+ network by purchasing a plug-in, called a Turbo Stick, for their laptop or PC.

The new network also enables roaming to 200 countries around the world, added Smithers.

Vincent Bertrand, a 24-year-old employee of Fort Liard's Northern Store, said that while he is going to stick with his Telus cell phone, he knows several people who are waiting for the network to launch so they can either begin using or purchase an iPhone.

"There's about three or four people that I know who are waiting for the new service to come on so they can use their iPhones," he said.

Last October, at the 1st Annual Strategic Northern Infrastructure Conference in Yellowknife, Paul Flaherty, president of NorthwesTel (which is owned by Bell Canada), said he expects Inuvik will eventually join the small number of communities in the NWT equipped with an HSPA+ network.

Smithers would not comment on which NWT communities are next on Bell's list.