Andrea Markey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (June 20/05) - A new partnership between NorthwesTel and Infosat will offer businesses and individuals more options when it comes to communications needs, said John Robertson, president and chief executive officer of Infosat, the largest full satellite service in Canada.

Infosat and NorthwesTel have each serviced both Nunavut and NWT separately up until this point. Now, they will provide both land-based and satellite services together.

"Satellites don't just mean just phones anymore," he said. "Data collecting, remote monitoring and high-speed internet are all part of the package."

With a niche market servicing the resource industry, NorthwesTel will now be able to join efforts and provide all options, said Ray Wells, vice-president corporate for NorthwesTel.

With the announcement of the partnership two weeks ago, NorthwesTel staff have already been trained to provide support and sales service for satellite customers, he said.

"It is cost prohibitive to both the customer and NorthwesTel to provide phone service to exploration camps using land-based microwave or fibre cables," he said.

The cost of satellite service has decreased significantly over recent years, making it more competitive.

"Just as data gathering has become more sophisticated, telecommunications has kept pace," he said.

Safety and information

Arranging the logistics for exploration camps hours away from the nearest land-based phones is the job of Scott Stringer, general manger of Northern operations for Miramar Mining Corporation.

The company's Hope Bay operations are located between Cambridge Bay and Bathurst Inlet. The Windy and Boston camps each have telephone communications, fax, internet, and satellite TV.

"We have direct communication with the camps every day for safety reasons, as well as for data information," he said. "It is essential to our operations."