Nunavut ISP offers new way to go mobile

SSi Micro Ltd. is offering this device, called the Wingle, to all users of its Qiniq network in Nunavut. The Wingle will give you mobile wifi in every Nunavut community. (PHOTO COURTESY OF SSI MICRO)

The operator of Nunavut’s Qiniq network, SSi Micro Ltd., is now selling a device that will give you a mobile wifi hotspot for your laptop you can use in any community on their network, the company said Oct. 3 in a release.

It’s a small stick called the Wingle that plugs into the USB port on your laptop.

The device, which SSi unveiled at the recent Nunavut Trade Show in Iqaluit, costs $160 to buy.

Once you insert it into your laptop, the Wingle will give you access to Qiniq’s new 4G-LTE network, which is available right now in 20 Nunavut communities. You can use the Wingle to share your wifi connection with another user, the company said.

All 25 Nunavut communities will be included soon, SSi Micro said.

“Nunavummiut have been asking for affordable mobile broadband, and we’ve heard them. The Wingle is the first of many new devices and services we will launch this year,” said Jeff Philipp, SSi’s founder and CEO.

The company is now rolling out 4G residential gateway service to all communities.

New Qiniq residential gateway customers will get 30 GB of free usage for the first month and all existing customers will get a five GB gift, the company said.

Right now, SSi is the only internet provider offering service to all Nunavut communities.

That will change by the end of 2019 when Northwestel, which now offers internet in only four Nunavut communities, will sell 4G wireless in all 25 communities using a $49.9 million contribution from the federal government.

Northwestel said its future network will include a wireless service to be offered by Bell Mobility, a company related to Northwestel.