SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknife appleytes - devotees of Apple electronics - will be happy to know that the iPhone is on its way.

At the 1st Annual Strategic Northern Infrastructure Conference last week, Paul Flaherty, president of NorthwesTel, let slip an interesting bit of information for tech geeks and Apple fans alike.

"Bell (Canada) has announced that they will start selling the product in our retail store in town in mid- (to late) November," Flaherty told Yellowknifer.

"If you were to purchase an iPhone from Bell or Telus, you'd be able to use it in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River," he said. "In time, I suspect, Inuvik, although Bell hasn't made a commitment as to when that will happen. And then you can use it in pretty much every community in southern Canada."

Earlier this month, Bell Canada launched a sophisticated new wireless telecommunications network that will support Apple's popular hand-tool.

Until now, Rogers Communications Inc., the country's largest cellphone company, was the only Canadian company whose network supported iPhones.

Bell and Telus will share the wireless network, known as high-speed packet access - HSPA for short.

"Today, if you have an iPhone in Canada, generally you'd only be able to use it on the Roger's network," said Flaherty. "If you bought it legitimately in Canada, the only place that was authorized to sell it was Rogers. They had an exclusive contract to the end of this year that's just expiring as we speak.

"What's changing is (that) Bell and Telus have gotten together and built a new network all across the country."

As for why the Yellowknife NorthwesTel retail store doesn't yet have any promotional material on the iPhone, the NorthwesTel president said "one of the things that Apple is insisting upon is that anyone who's going to become a dealer has to receive some specialized training. There's a cost associated with that.

"They're also fairly particular about the type of infrastructure they want to see in the store, so not all dealers may take it on initially, but for sure in Yellowknife it will be available (in) mid to late November."

NorthwesTel also has a small dealer in Norman Wells, said Flaherty.

The start-up of the new network came several months early, as Bell's HSPA roll out was initially forecast for February 2010.

Independently-owned phone provider Ice Wireless has been selling iPhones without contracts for one year and will continue to do so, said Cameron Zubko, director of Ice Wireless.

Dustin Moore, co-owner of Frostbyte Cafe, said that while he already owns a Palm Pre, people he knows are eager to pick up an iPhone.

"Oh yeah," said Moore. "It's very popular down south already and I know a few people in my office here at Coldwell Banker who are already thinking of getting one."