Last year, Martselos and the town's economic planner gathered 400 signatures from residents who want the service. They sent the list to NMI Mobility.

"They were asking for about 200, so we were over and above what they were asking," he said.

They won't have to wait much longer. NMI Mobility plans to have the service up and running by spring.

The company's vice-president, sales manager and engineer travelled to Fort Smith last week to discuss plans with Martselos and potential dealers.

Vice-president Glenn Nicol said they will install the equipment somewhere in the downtown core.

The service will likely cover a 25 to 30 kilometre diameter.

"We're not trying to cover the dead bush, we're trying to cover where the majority of people are," he said.

Sales manager Marc Leclerc said the company chose a site that allows the signal to penetrate building walls.

"That's a concern we're putting a lot of emphasis on," said Leclerc. "People want to be able to receive calls when they are in a different part of the office, or in a meeting with someone else."

NMI will install the equipment early in the new year.

"We like to have the tower up, and the cell site working for at least two or three weeks before we go live," he said. "We try to get all the glitches out."

Leclerc said NMI Mobility (now a subsidiary of Bell Mobility) decided to expand into Fort Smith because it has "a little bit of extra capital for 2003."

"There will be more cell sites to come in other locations," he added.

So, which community is next?

"I can't say," he said, laughing. "Otherwise the phone won't stop ringing."