Changing face of wireless
New providers and new technology enter the Yellowknife wireless market
Lyndsay Herman
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, December 4, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Residents of the NWT's capital city have more to choose from than they ever had before when it comes to wireless services.
More service providers and newer technology mean people can shop around and weigh the options of each newfangled smartphone or tablet.
"Fundamentally, there is a desire to provide choice and competition across Canada and Telus was excited to bring our products and services, and the reasons why we're different to the North and to Yellowknife in particular," said Telus Mobility vice-president Brent Johnston.
Telus launched services in the NWT in November, and its newest store is located in Centre Ice Plaza.
Another notable change took place on Yellowknife's wireless scene in October, when Northwestel announced it was transferring its wireless services to its parent company, Bell Mobility.
"One of the challenges found in the wireless business is scale is really important, and customers are really looking for innovation. With the small number of customers Northwestel had in Northern Canada, we were challenged to be able to do that," said Northwestel president and chief executive officer Paul Flaherty. "Whereas, if you look at Bell Mobility, they have seven million customers across Canada, so their ability to invest in new innovation and bringing new things to market is much better than ours."
Flaherty said a prime example would be Bell's wireless TV service, which has up to 40 channels accessible for wireless devices, while Northwestel didn't have that kind of service in place at all.
He added new regulations also made it difficult for the company to keep up, and make investments into, services Northerners were looking for.
Flaherty said customers have already been notified of the change, and the transfer is expected to wrap up in the first quarter of 2014.
Bell spokesperson Jacqueline Michelis said the company does have a physical presence in Yellowknife, through retail locations at The Source and Northwestel.
Telus and Bell have a network sharing agreement across Canada, in the North. That means Telus uses primarily Bell infrastructure, where the opposite is true in other parts of Canada.
A point of pride for Telus was its year-over-year customer service rating, said Johnston.
Where customer complaints increased by 26 per cent in 2013 from 2012 across all telecommunications companies in Canada, complaints from Telus customers decreased by 27 per cent over the same time period, according to the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services annual report issued in early November.
Ice Wireless chief operating officer Cameron Zudko said even with this new names in the wireless game, Ice Wireless still sees itself as the a sole competitor since it is the only company operating on its own network.
"We've got some very advanced wireless network services in Yellowknife today," Zudko said. "I think what we've got in Yellowknife is going to meet the demands of the market quite well into the future. We've got very good services compared to the rest of Canada in Yellowknife for wireless."
In the new year, Ice Wireless, which is partnered with Rogers and Fido, plans to add internet services to its repertoire, using the cellular system it already has in place.
The company also gives customers the option of having more than one phone number on a SIM. The purpose is to have a local number in more than one city in Canada, or even internationally, to eliminate or minimize long-distance charges.
Ice Wireless is also expanding into a larger store in Centre Square Mall,
Zudko said.
