Wireless wonders
City hops on cellular phone bandwagon

by Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 31/97) - It's estimated that between 10 and 20 per cent of Yellowknifers own cellular phones.

"The whole world is going wireless," said Jon Jaque, manager of Cascom in Yellowknife, a distributor of cellular phones.

Cellular phones caught on in the North about three years ago. They were primarily being used by real estate agents or businessmen who spent most of the day out of the office but wanted to be accessible.

The cost in the beginning was expensive, around $600 for a phone. But over the last couple of years the cost has come down significantly.

A phone now costs as little as $160 or as high as $1,300. The higher the price the better the quality and features.

Cellular rates have also gone down.

NorthwesTel Mobility has seven rates starting at $180 a year to $300 a month.

These low rates are attracting more customers, said Jaque.

Maureen Crotty-Williams, manager of Radio Shack in Yellowknife, another cell phone distributor, said first when they started selling phones, sales went through the roof.

"It's a mature market now. There's not going to be hugh growth," she said.

Crotty-Williams estimates that one in five Yellowknifers have a cellular phone. Jaque figures that number may be a little high.

Jim Pook, manager of Northern Communication and Navigation Systems Ltd. said he's watched the number of users grow over the years.

But, he doesn't expect the numbers to grow much more unless the population grows first or the cost of the service decreases.

"I think the market is saturated myself," said Pook, who sells about three or four cellular phones a month.

Cellular phone are a very small part of Pook's business. NCNS sells everything from two-way radios to pagers to navigation equipment.