SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Iristel launched the first telephone service to compete with NorthwesTel just over a month ago and potential customers have a lot of questions, if not much commitment up front.
The Ice Wireless kiosk in Centre Square Mall is where interested Iristel customers can go to make inquiries about the new telephone services. - NNSL file photo
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"It's been pretty good," said Maged Bishara, vice-president operations for Iristel and Ice Wireless, of Yellowknife's response to Iristel services. "Our customer care lines have been ringing like crazy.
"It's been a month (since the service was launched) but just prior to Christmas so, logistically speaking, the world is waking up again now."
Iristel is offering both residential and commercial phone services through its wholly-owned voice-over-Internet protocol, or "VoIP," technology.
A VoIP network utilizes the Internet for calling, which is different from what the telephone service in the NWT currently uses. However, VoIP is just another way to get a dial tone to your house, said Bishara.
An example of a well-known VoIP provider is Skype. However, the services provided by Skype and Iristel are different.
Bishara said recent blog posts reviewing VoIP services have confused Iristel with companies that use the technology for international calling only and one of the roadblocks for potential clients is understanding that the service can give the user access to telephone services.
Iristel is currently the only competitor to NorthwesTel for both residential and commercial telephone services in Yellowknife.
Its introduction to the market in December was a milestone in the battle over recent years to address the issue of a NorthwesTel monopoly over telecommunications in the North.
Effective May 1, NorthwesTel was required by a Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission ruling to open its network to competition.
One of the requirements was that NorthwesTel allow for number portability on its network so that customers could keep their phone numbers if they chose to switch providers.
"We're getting a lot of commercial clients asking if they can port their numbers over, if we're able to provide them with a PBX solution, which is a telephone system," said Bishara. "Hosted telephone systems is what we're able to provide them with. They save money on the telephone system, they save money on running the telephone system, they save money on the telephone lines, in addition to the long distance, all of it."
One of the reasons for the potential savings is that the business doesn't have to purchase or maintain the telephone system, it only has to purchase the telephone services, said Bishara.
With the services, it would also be possible to have a local telephone number reach a long-distance location nationally and, in some cases, internationally, without long-distance charges.
Paul Flaherty, president and chief executive officer of NorthwesTel, said NorthwesTel has not noticed many clients switching to Iristel services, although he added it is too early to have a real understanding of trends the introduction of competition will have on the market.
