Iqaluit Not Feeling The Love

[JAGWIRE]

Up here in Iqaluit we run off an 1xRTT network. We have a population of about 7,500. Being on one of the biggest islands in the world and being so far up north one can only imagine the difficulties it must be to support a cell phone network let alone even have one. The fact that we have one and that it works, well most of the time LOL, is a testament to Bell and the true fact that they have the 'largest' coverage area in Canada.

My worry/issue is that with the majority of Canada being on the HSPA network and with no upgrade for Iqaluit in sight we are being left in the dark. The perfect example of this is what has recently happened with our device lineup.

We were sporting the BlackBerry Curve 8530 for the longest time. It has become a very popular phone with hundreds of people using them, including government and businesses. Recently Bell has categorized the phone as EOL (End Of Life) and will no longer be available in stores. A BlackBerry fanboy myself was thinking that this is Bell getting us the new CDMA versions of the OS7 phones....alas I was wrong.

The future of BlackBerries in our little town is looking rather bleak. Lets hope that the "Colt" is going to be a Global phone so that we can have a BlackBerry once again.

[costco1]

O wow.. 1xRTT I haven't seen that on my screen for a while. Don't worry there will always be Saskatchewan and Manitoba telecom monopoly to keep CDMA going. I just wish Telus/Bell would bring 9930 from Verizon/Sprint to keep CDMA customers on path to upgrade.

[JAGWIRE]

I got a bit of an update since my last post...

Looks like Bell did a special order for our little part in the world . we got lots of Curve 2s coming down the pipe for us so YAY on that. The down side is that this order, estimated to last about 6 mounths, is it for SmartPhones in our town.

Bell has discontinued a good amount of their CDMA devices, which makes sence seeing how there is such a small market for them, but with that our phone selection here has dwindled down to three devices! LG 231, Samsung Entro and the Sanyo Pro 700...yes there are no smartphones in that line up. Still waiting for Bell to buy some CDMA smartphones fro our town. At least we have the Curve 2s coming in...eventually LOL.

There was a SLIGHT glimmer of hope when the iPHONE 4S was launched and the Bell website stated that its CDMA. Someone goofed though and didn't read the fine print, yes its CDMA but only if the provider (aka Bell) wants it to be and they didn't.

So the future of cell phones up here in Iqaluit is looking rather glim. Hopefully there are some RIM reps reading this and they get Bell to buy the CDMA versions of the OS7 phone.

[JAGWIRE]

****UPDATE****

Well it looks like the CRTC has had enough just like the rest of us up here. As of yesturday, Dec 15th they finally killed the strangle hold NorthWestel had on the territories.

For the longest time NorthWestel (NWTel) had a monopoly on the telecommunication for the territories, no one was ALLOWED to set up shop not that they just owned everything it was 'its us and we have a paper that says it can only be so .' But after reviewing the shier amount of money that they have made and the fact that our system is in the stone age and they haven't done anything to improve it CRTC gave up on NWTel.

SO what does that mean for us, the people. It means that there is the potential for the GSM network to finally come to our town and the other remote communities. Its time for Iqaluit, which is a huge transportation hub, to be allowed to catch up with the rest of the capital cities in our nation. For people who are traveling here to not have to buy a second phone cause their nice new iPhone/Droid/BB wont work up here. It means that the Bell reps down south that keep telling people, "ya that works up there no problem" wont be lieing anymore.

Its a great day yes in deed . Check out the link to the story below.
CRTC opens up telecom competition in the north - Page 1 - Government

[ofelas]

Long overdue; any updates?

[JAGWIRE]

No official updates yet. Since writing this I have moved on from my job at my local Source store there for have falling a little behind in my info but what I've heard is that there is a company out of Newfoundland that is wanting to put a GSM tower in Iqaluit. The company name I am not aware of I will see if i can get some more information from my friends at The Source.

[JAGWIRE]

NunatsiaqOnline 2012-03-28: NEWS: New BlackBerry model to soon hit Nunavut stores
http://crackberry.com/blackberry-curve-9360-review
Wireless | Northwestel

OK let me say this first. It is NorthwesTel(NWTel) that is launching this phone NOT Bell so here in Iqaluit we will not be getting it until Bell Mobility launches it. I know my friends over at The Source are getting a lot of phone calls about this phone and having worked there in the past i can understand how detrimental it is to your work having the phone ringing every 5sec and people come up and bug you.

So as we are all excited to see CDMA BB love for the north it is still annoying that once again Iqaluit has been skipped. 'Downsouth' gets new phone and now the smaller communities get new phones but the capital city of a territory that is 1/5th of Canada's landmass gets squat?! Lets hope that Bell gets their act together and provides us with a well deserved new phone! This phone WILL WORK in Iqaluit but will not be sold out of The Source until Bell states that they will carry it and not just NWTel.

But on the lighter side of this issue RIM is holding up what they said at the Earning Call. Thorsten stated that they were going to continue and push the Curve for smaller areas and The North is as small are your going to get.

[Thunderbuck]

Originally Posted by JAGWIRE

****UPDATE****

Well it looks like the CRTC has had enough just like the rest of us up here. As of yesturday, Dec 15th they finally killed the strangle hold NorthWestel had on the territories.

For the longest time NorthWestel (NWTel) had a monopoly on the telecommunication for the territories, no one was ALLOWED to set up shop not that they just owned everything it was 'its us and we have a paper that says it can only be so .' But after reviewing the shier amount of money that they have made and the fact that our system is in the stone age and they haven't done anything to improve it CRTC gave up on NWTel.

SO what does that mean for us, the people. It means that there is the potential for the GSM network to finally come to our town and the other remote communities. Its time for Iqaluit, which is a huge transportation hub, to be allowed to catch up with the rest of the capital cities in our nation. For people who are traveling here to not have to buy a second phone cause their nice new iPhone/Droid/BB wont work up here. It means that the Bell reps down south that keep telling people, "ya that works up there no problem" wont be lieing anymore.

Its a great day yes in deed . Check out the link to the story below.
CRTC opens up telecom competition in the north - Page 1 - Government

I don't know if you realize, but this only applies to local landline phone service. NorthwesTel hasn't had a legal monopoly on wireless in the north for years. The catch, of course, is that no other wireless provider has figured out a way to make money on wireless in Northern Canada yet.

Now, that may change indirectly. Telus is moving into Yellowknife, and once they've gone to the trouble of setting that up, the business case for moving into wireless might be easier...

[JAGWIRE]

Originally Posted by Thunderbuck

I don't know if you realize, but this only applies to local landline phone service. NorthwesTel hasn't had a legal monopoly on wireless in the north for years. The catch, of course, is that no other wireless provider has figured out a way to make money on wireless in Northern Canada yet.

Now, that may change indirectly. Telus is moving into Yellowknife, and once they've gone to the trouble of setting that up, the business case for moving into wireless might be easier...

This issue also carries over to the Cell Phone market as well. Yes the original debate/issue is regarding landlines. The reason that it also pertains to cell phones is that no company is going to put up a cell phone only an not offer home phone service as well. so with the addition of land lines comes the addition of cell lines.

[JAGWIRE]

we have hit over 1K views this makes me very happy. means that people are being informed about the north and our situation up here.

well i was looking for a job for when i move to Nova Scotia at the end of the month and look what i stumbled upon

looks like NorthwesTel is committed to updating the infrastructure up here.