Paula White
Northern News Services

INUVIK (July 16/99) - They're here.

As of this week, Inuvik has a digital cellular phone service, the only one in the Northwest Territories.

"We've done a lot of research (three years) into...creating a system that would work economically," said Tom Zubko, owner of Inuvik TV. "The technology we're using is quite new. It's only been deployed for about three years in total -- anywhere.

"It really is leading- edge technology, especially in small community deployment," he added. "It's definitely the first system of its type in Canada, maybe the world, I don't know. So again, Inuvik benefits in being first, as they did with cable modems."

Zubko said the digital cell phone system works just like a regular telephone system. The significant difference is that it is digital as opposed to the older-type analogue system used in many other centres, including Yellowknife. The digital system, Zubko explained, offers clearer voice reproduction, less static and the handsets are "substantially enhanced."

Analogue phones can be picked up on just about any scanner whereas digital phones, while not completely secure, can only be picked up by very sophisticated scanners.

"We're trying to design a package that would be the most desirable to the most people," Zubko said. He explained that the town has, in the past, lobbied NorthwesTel for a cell phone system, but the company refused, saying it wasn't economically feasible.

"Which is probably true," Zubko said. "However, we believe we've found a way to do it that is economically and technically superior and scales to the size of the anticipated demand that we'll have in the town."

One of the ways that the company conducted its research was to send out a survey on May 20 to a number of its customers. The survey attempted to gauge a number of things, namely demand, what people prefer for billing plans, how they anticipated using the phones. Zubko said the company received a good response.

"We've got a fairly decent order list in place already," he said.

To get set up is simple. Customers have to go to Inuvik TV, buy a phone and sign the necessary papers for billing purposes. Zubko said there will be a monthly fee of $35 as well as a $.30/minute charge every time the phone is used for both outgoing and incoming calls. Long-distance charges will be billed through Inuvik TV as well, but will pass through NorthwesTel first. Zubko said customers will be able to buy the phones at cost for $260.

"We're not marking them up because our philosophy is to get them out into people's hands and we'll make money off service charges rather than retail mark-up."

The Nokia phones run on batteries. Zubko said Inuvik TV will be bringing in a few options -- from adapters for cars to desktop rapid chargers that charge the battery in about an hour as opposed to overnight. He said the phones will stay charged for eight days if left on while listening for a call and, depending on the size of the battery, customers can have up to three hours of talk time.

As for range, Inuvik TV has designed the system to work primarily within the town. Zubko said he expects they will work inside most buildings with minimal interference. The phones can also be used in all the major cities in Canada or anywhere that CanTel or its affiliates (such as AT&T in the United States) has a network -- both digital and analogue.

Zubko said a question that some people might have is can the phone be used in Yellowknife. The answer is no. It isn't compatible with NorthwesTel's systems.

To go along with the introduction of its cell phone service, Inuvik TV is also changing its name. Zubko said the new name will be New North Networks.

"Inuvik TV is a great name, but it doesn't really reflect other aspects of the company -- Internet and radio to name a couple," he said. "We felt it was an appropriate time to change the name and appearance of the perception of the company."

The company is in the final process of registering the new name. Zubko said it will be phased in over the summer.