Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services

Fort Smith (Mar 11/02) - A new fibre optic line will bring a high-speed Sympatico Internet connection here, something one business owner says could doom smaller local Internet providers.

Don Jaque is an Internet provider serving the town of 2,500. He predicts NorthwesTel will eventually deliver its Sympatico Internet service over the $4.3 million connection, which will be installed later this year.

A NorthwesTel spokesperson says a decision has not yet been made about offering the Internet service.

Anne Grainger says the line is being installed because a microwave tower for telephones is not allowed in Wood Buffalo National Park.

"They felt it would have a negative impact on the whooping cranes," she said.

Communication signals are relayed to the town using costly satellite time.

Grainger says funding for the line, which will start in Hay River, is from a $67 million annual subsidy NorthwesTel gets from Canada's other phone companies to compensate for the cost of doing business in the North.

Jaque says the funding source means NorthwesTel has no incentive to recover it's $4.3 million fibre optic investment. He says that's unfair because Sympatico will likely be offered at an artificially low price. Jaque's Auroranet Internet company prices have to be based on his real costs.

"The corporate utilities are granted government monopolies and they have the ability to generate huge amounts of revenue, and then they can come into a small market like ours and kick the local guy," Jaque said. Jaque said if his business manages to survive after the fibre optic line is working, it will mean the end of innovations. He points to an investment he made in wireless Internet access for his 290 customers.

He's also ruling out plans to expand to Fort Resolution.

"It's pretty marginal already, there's no way we're going to thrive."

Auroranet doesn't deal with NorthwesTel, but buys satellite time directly from Cancom, an Ontario company.

Jaque's company is one of two Fort Smith Internet providers. The local cable company also offers Internet connections.