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Telus takes on Bell Mobility and Ice wireless Cellphone service provider will offer Yellowknifers services at the same price as the rest of Canada
Candace Thomson
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, August 28, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Northerners will soon have more choice in their wireless provider when Canadian telecommunications company Telus arrives on Sept. 6.
Andrea Goertz, chief communications and sustainability officer for Telus, addresses the audience at a press conference at Stanton Territorial Hospital on Monday where Telus announced they were bringing their service to the North beginning Sept. 6. - Candace Thomson/NNSL photo |
Andrea Goertz, chief communications and sustainability officer for Telus, said the move North has been in the works at Telus for the past few years.
"We have definitely been planning this event for many years and in earnest within the last year," she said. "We feel this is part of our home. Our extended family and a lot of our team members have expressed an excitement that we're here."
Yellowknife cellphone users can order and activate their service online or over the phone starting Sept. 6 with a Yellowknife or Whitehorse number.
Goertz said Telus will offer plans at the same price offered anywhere else in Canada, and boasted of the high speed of its service.
"Telus offers speeds that are three times faster than the U.S., and nine times faster than the U.K.," she said. "In fact, Telus offers one of the fastest wireless speeds in all of the 34 industrialized countries, second only to Denmark."
Telus will bring the company's new 4G LTE network to Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith and Whitehorse. The new services are part of a $3-million investment from Telus since 2010 bringing wireless technology and operations to in the NWT and Yukon.
Yellowknife currently has cellphone coverage through Bell Mobility and Ice Wireless. Last year, Telus announced network upgrades catering to Telus customers travelling to Yellowknife so they can use their phones while doing business in the city. Monday's announcement means Yellowknife residents can also sign up for a Telus plan.
Petron Communications, an authorized Telus dealer, will open a store in Yellowknife with three to four staff. The store will be in the Centre Ice Plaza and is expected to open in October. Goertz said the store in Yellowknife is expected to create three to five jobs.
The competition in the mobile service industry is long overdue, according to Mike Bradshaw, executive director of the NWT Chamber of Commerce.
"I think it's healthy to have head to head competition," Bradshaw said. "It creates tension in the marketplace that creates improvements, and better services and products."
Telus also announced it is giving $25 for every smartphone registered in each of its new cities to a maximum of $25,000, for local charities.
The Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation was the chosen charity in Yellowknife, with proceeds going towards a new cardio-respiratory monitor for the obstetrics unit.
"They touched base and wanted to find a charity that would touch many people, and the hospital does," said Rebecca Alty, executive director of the foundation.
Alty said the monitor is a crucial piece of medical equipment currently absent from the unit.
"The monitor is needed when babies are having issues breathing or having trouble regulating their heartbeat," Alty said. "The device monitors their vital signs and staff can see when a patient is stabilizing, or their condition is getting worse."
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