New broadband upgrade could bring 4G to Nunavik

A Tamaani technician checks out some of the service providers’ equipment in Kuujjuaq Sept. 13. As part of Tamaani’s region-wide upgrades, Nunavik’s cellular provider will have the means to upgrade to 4G technology beginning in 2016. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

KUUJJUAQ — The Kativik Regional Government and Makivik Corp. say they are looking at an agreement to share new communications infrastructure in Nunavik that would allow the Inuit birthright organization to upgrade its cellular phone service.

Makivik oversees Nunacell, the cellular provider which offers service in four communities — Kuujjuaq, Puvirnituq, Inukjuak and Salluit.

But the 2G service hasn’t evolved since it was first launched in 2010.

Tamaani, the KRG-run internet service provider, is now set to overhaul its network across the region.

The KRG received $26 million from both the provincial and federal governments last July to help extend broadband service in the region’s 14 communities until 2021.

It’s that upgrade that will set the basic groundwork for a move up to 4G technology — should Nunacell decide to go that route.

“We’ll be installing 80 per cent of what’s needed for that network anyway, as part of our upgrades,” said Jean-François Dumoulin, senior co-ordinator of programs at Tamaani, told KRG regional council meeting in Kuujjuaq Sept. 14.

“We’ve had discussions with Makivik on this,” he added, “and since we have to do this anyways, it would make more sense for Makivik to use this infrastructure rather than having two of everything in each community.”

An agreement would not mean Tamaani plans to take over Nunacell or offer its own cell phone service, he emphasized Sept. 14.

The $26 million in government funding announced earlier this year, plus another $9 million of its own money will allow the KRG to move forward with Tamaani’s phase four.

That will double home internet service speeds in Nunavik from 1.5 megabits per second to three megabits per second, and will replace aging local distribution networks in each community.

“We have to replace our local wireless network,” Dumoulin told KRG councillors.

“It’s been in place since 2004, and it’s now completely obsolete.”

In replacing distribution networks around the region, Tamaani will be installing what’s called High Speed Packet Access, or HSPA+, a technology used by mobile phone service providers that can deliver data transmission speeds up to 42 megabits per second.

It’s not yet clear what Nunacell’s plans are in terms of introducing 4G technology to the region; the Makivik subsidiary has not yet responded to a request for comment from Nunatsiaq News.

There’s not much of a business case for bringing cellular service to Nunavik’s smaller communities, Dumoulin noted, but this agreement could offer Nunacell the support to expand its services to all 14 communities.

The installation of the equipment is scheduled to be in place by September 2016.

As part of its bandwidth upgrades, crews have begun installing a local fibre optic loop in Kuujjuaq, which should be complete by the end of the year.

Unlike a fibre optic connection that transmits data over long distances through undersea cable, this system will still rely on satellite.

But local distribution will be connected through fibre optic, which will help avoid congestion on the local network.

“It’s like when we pave the roads — we still don’t have a highway to the South,” Tamaani’s Jean-François Bouchard said Sept. 14. “It’s the same thing with the internet.”

The local fibre optic loops will also be installed in Puvirnituq, Inukjuak and Salluit next year.