Northwestel - Subsidiary Operations

Subsidiary Operations

Northwestel Cable is a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwestel. Originally approved by the CRTC to provide cable television in numerous communities across the north, the timing was poor as DTH satellite services became available; Northwestel Cable was unable to subscribe enough customers to make systems viable except in Norman Wells; the company also in 1995 purchased the Mackenzie Media cable system in Yellowknife, the Performance Communications Corp. system in Watson Lake and the Pangnirtung Cable T.V. system. In 2005, Northwestel Cable purchased the Fort Nelson, British Columbia system and upgraded it for digital and internet. In August 2006, the system in High Level, Alberta was also purchased and is to be upgraded for digital cable and internet. In September 2007, Northwestel Cable took ownership of the WHTV Cablevision system in Whitehorse, and again, conducted upgrades.

Northwestel introduced a form of cellular telephony in 1987 with the Aurora (Automated Roving Radio) system (400 MHz band) developed by Novatel and widely used in Alberta. It was available in limited areas, and although intended to replace most of the VHF manual mobile telephone service, the widespread deployment of cellular service (800 MHz band) across southern Canada rendered the Aurora system obsolete, despite Aurora's superior geographic reach. The Aurora system was manufacturer discontinued, and, not being Y2K compatible, was discontinued late in 1999.

800 MHz cellular technology was introduced in 1993, though with far less availability than Aurora in the Yukon and Northwest Territories. The cellular operations were, soon after, spun off as Northwestel Mobility Inc. (NMI Mobility). In 2003, NMI Mobility was sold to Bell Mobility, leaving Northwestel as strictly landline and VHF manual mobile provider. However, it appears to have been since re-acquired by Northwestel.

Northwestel is now in a joint venture with the Dakwakada Development Corporation (an arm of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations) in Latitude Wireless deployment of cellular in 17 to 19 Yukon communities (with local number blocks in Dawson, Haines Junction, Old Crow and Watson Lake). Latitude Wireless service is also available in eight communities in the Northwest Territories and six in Nunavut, and roaming is available between the Latitude and Bell Mobility networks.