Cell phone service in Iqaluit is better: Northwestel

Cellular telephone customers in Iqaluit should notice faster data speeds and better quality calls on their smartphones due to Northwestel’s recent network upgrade.

Crews spent last month working on two local cell towers to upgrade the local CDMA 1xRTT network to EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized), said an Oct. 26 Northwestel news release.

EVDO is a wireless standard that separates voice and data onto different channels, which in turn increases capacity and data speeds.

“The upgrade will vastly improve the quality of cell service in Iqaluit,” said Northwestel vice-president Curtis Shaw, in the release.

Users will be able to tell if their smartphone is connected to an upgraded tower if an icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen (near the bars showing signal strength) changes from 1x to EVDO or EV.

Northwestel spokeswoman Emily Younkers told Nunatsiaq News last month that the new system allows Bell to use its satellite-fed Iqaluit bandwidth more efficiently.

“Basically it’s freeing traffic up from one highway on to two,” she said. “It’s increasing call quality, it’s increasing transmission speeds. People using smartphones will notice it right away.”

Younkers acknowledged that Iqaluit’s network is still limited, both by local geography and by its reliance on the type of mobile service provided here.