Arctic Red River (Oct 06/03) - Internet just got a little faster and whole lot cheaper in Tsiigehtchic.

Last month the band had a satellite dish installed by New North Networks on the side of their offices.

This simple metal satellite dish will save Tsiigehtchic thousands of dollars and provide free Internet access to everyone in the hamlet. - Erin Fletcher/NNSL photo

The dish cuts out the middle man -- the long distance charges from NorthwesTel -- for dial-up Internet connections. Instead the community is the ISP.

Now the 12 computers in the band office, and every other computer in the community with a modem, can get fast and free Internet service 24-hours a day, said Raymond Madore, band senior administrative officer.

All computer users have to do is dial a local phone number instead of the long distance number they used before. The modem call is received by a plastic box in the band office, through the wires and up into the satellite dish.

The dollars and sense

Before the dish, Internet connections were slow and expensive, said Madore.

"I started looking at the bills and decided I needed to get the service to save money," said Madore, who has been working for the band since April.

The band office paid between $1,300 and $1,800 a month in long-distance charges for its 12 computers. Madore said his own long distance bill was over $30 a month.

Now the hamlet pays $430 a month for the satellite service for the band office computers and 40 additional connections for the community.

The dish cost $14,000, including installation by New North Networks.

"The payback is in one year and the whole community gets to share it," said Madore.

Now they've got a great connection, the band is working on a community Web page filled with photos and information.