Kuujjuaq, Québec, May 28, 2018 – All 14 of Nunavik’s communities in the northern third of Quebec, will soon be getting cellular and mobility data services thanks to an important agreement between the Kativik Regional Government (KRG) and Ice Wireless.

The more than 14,000 residents – almost all Inuit – live in one of the very few remote areas in Canada still without cellular and mobility data services. Taken for granted by most Canadians, this service will be available beginning in May as KRG-owned Tamaani Internet teams up with Ice Wireless. 

“The KRG, through Tamaani Internet, is continuously working towards strengthening telecommunications infrastructure in the region. This new agreement with Ice Wireless for cellular and mobility data services keeps us moving in this direction. The KRG remains strongly committed to reducing the digital shortfall between Nunavik and southern Quebec,” says KRG Chairperson Jennifer Munick.

With 3G/LTE technology, customers will have services comparable to other Canadians like texting, apps, voice and Internet surfing on their smartphones, says Samer Bishay, President of Ice Wireless.

“It’s difficult to understand how a segment of Canadian society still does not have access to cellular services in 2018. We have made it our mission to end the Digital Divide that contributes to the isolation of northern communities and we will do this in Nunavik by demonstrating that, through innovative partnerships between socially conscious private-sector companies like Ice Wireless and forward-thinking government organisations such as the KRG, we can achieve together what individually we cannot,” Bishay says.

“This deployment of cellular services will allow Nunavimmiut to stay connected with family and friends, regardless of where they may be in one of the region’s 14 communities, or while in the south during business or personal travel,” Munick says.

For this agreement, Ice Wireless is providing its expertise, access to spectrum, national and international roaming and access to its parent company Iristel’s extensive Canada-wide telephone network. The KRG, through its Tamaani Internet, is providing bandwidth and access to its telecommunication infrastructure.

All the smartphone plans include unlimited calls, texts and roaming throughout Canada, United States and Mexico starting from $59. Ice Wireless is the first Canadian carrier to eliminate roaming charges without daily or monthly add-on charges. Voice and text only plans start as low as $19 per month.

More about the Partners

• The KRG is a non-ethnic public organization created in 1978, under the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement. The organization has jurisdiction over nearly the entire territory of Québec north of the 55th parallel in areas such as municipal matters, transportation, the environment, policing, employment, labour training, income security, childcare services, telecommunications, renewable resources, land-use planning, civil security and economic development.
• The KRG’s Tamaani Internet delivers Internet and IP network solutions across Nunavik.
• Ice Wireless is a facilities-based regional mobile network operator (MNO) that delivers state-of-the-art 3G/LTE technology to rural and remote areas of Canada.
• Iristel is one of the largest competitive local exchange carriers and VoIP providers in the country.
  
  

Information:

Jean Barcelo
Communications Officer
Kativik Regional Government
Tel. 819-964-2961, ext. 2400
media@krg.ca | www.krg.ca

Jean-Francois Dumoulin
VP Regulatory & Government Affairs
Ice Wireless / Iristel
Tel.: 514-800-1577
jdumoulin@iristel.com www.icewireless.com