Yellowknife and three other communities in the NWT will begin receiving unlimited data for Internet packages on Nov. 1, Northwestel confirmed Friday.
Fort Smith, Norman Wells and Hay River will also receive the unlimited data options, said Northwestel spokesperson Andrew Anderson.
In addition, Whitehorse and Carcross in the Yukon, and Fort Nelson in B.C. will benefit from the unlimited data connections. Construction of a cable connection to Inuvik is supposed to start soon, Anderson added.
“We filed a letter to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today confirming our intention to introduce unlimited data in cable and fibre by Nov. 1,” said Anderson. “Our intention is to start the unlimited data on Nov. 1. There’s still work to do between now and then to prepare our network and file our CRTC application.”
Details on the pricing of the new service have yet to be determined and will be submitted as part of a tariff application to the CRTC.
The new services come as part of Northwestel’s successful bid to the CRTC’s broadband fund, and the awarding of more than $62 million in broadband funding to expand Internet services in the North, as announced on Aug. 12.
That funding will be part of an effort to bring every community in the NWT and Yukon up to the minimum standard of 50 Mbps download speed and 10 Mbps upload speed over the next three years.
“We’ll do that by introducing fibre to the homes in every community we serve over the land, and low earth orbit satellite for communities which we serve by satellite in the NWT and Yukon,” Anderson said.
– with files from Simon Whitehouse
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