17 Facts About Northwestel

Northwestel Inc is a Canadian telecommunications company that is the incumbent local exchange carrier and long-distance carrier in the territories of Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

Northwestel was established in 1979 by its owner, Canadian National Railways, spinning off the "northwest" operations of Canadian National Telecommunications.

Northwestel was sold to Bell Canada Enterprises on December 1,1988.

Since then, Northwestel has become a direct subsidiary of Bell Canada, although still regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission separately from Bell Canada, with its own method of regulation until 2007: rate of return.

CRTC order in 2003 transferred a small section of Alberta, that had no telephone service, to Northwestel's operating area, as it could better serve the location from Fort Smith than could Telus due to isolation and network cost.

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The 2003 order had the effect of eliminating an anomaly - Northwestel already had some customers in Alberta adjacent to Fort Smith, though not as far from Fort Smith as Fort Fitzgerald.

In 2012 Northwestel complied with the CRTC's request for a network modernization plan, which resulted in considerable opposition from northern rival telecoms.

In February 2013, Northwestel released a revised modernization plan, which president Paul Flaherty explained to the public.

Parallel to this, another regulatory process before the CRTC has been underway regarding the wholesale prices Northwestel is permitted to charge competitors for access to its fibre cable connecting the Northwest Territories to southern Canada.

In March 2015, the CRTC ordered Northwestel to reduce residential Internet rates in the Northwest Territories, while a final decision regarding wholesale rates is still pending.

Until the 1980s, Northwestel's current operating area was characterized by north–south communications and transportation links.

The completion of the fibre link in this area will allow Northwestel to provide internet service to the communities of Muncho Lake, BC and Toad River, BC.

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 in 1995 purchased the Mackenzie Media cable system in Yellowknife, the Performance Communications Corp.

In 2005, Northwestel Cable purchased the Fort Nelson, British Columbia, system and upgraded it for digital 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 system developed by Novatel and widely used in Alberta.

Northwestel is in a joint venture with the Dakwakada Development Corporation in Latitude Wireless deployment of cellular in 17 to 19 Yukon communities.