Northwestel launches home Internet plans with speeds of 500 Mbps
Northwestel Inc. has launched what it calls the North’s fastest home Internet plans, available in 20 communities in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
Northwestel Inc. has launched what it calls the North’s fastest home Internet plans, available in 20 communities in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
Home Internet customers can now access download speeds of up to 500 Mbps with unlimited monthly data.
With Internet 500 unlimited, home Internet customers can anticipate more gaming, streaming and browsing on multiple devices in the home, the company said Wednesday.
The improvements are part of the company’s significant investments to expand high-speed Internet speeds and access in communities across both territories.
Northwestel has also unveiled a new, faster Internet plan for northern businesses.
The Business 550 unlimited plan, with speeds of up to 550 Mbps, is designed to help businesses that increasingly rely on direct customer communication over the web and access to cloud services.
“As families look to connect more devices in their homes, we are proud to offer the fastest home Internet in the North,” said Northwestel president Curtis Shaw.
“And northern businesses now have more tools to connect with their customers. With every improvement to Internet speeds and access, northerners are better able to connect and share with the world around them.”
The company serves 96 communities across the three Territories, Nunavut, northern B.C. and Alberta.
Comments (12)
Up 13 Down 1
Larry on Oct 30, 2022 at 12:47 pm
Northwestel has a difficult time completing residential projects concerning the Internet. About 3 years ago Northwestel buried fiber to a lot of homes in Porter Creek between 12th Ave and Clyde Wann road. The fiber got put in (thanks to Total North) but the fiber never got connected! You can call Customer Service but they "know nothing" just like Sgt. Schultz.
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Groucho d'North on Oct 29, 2022 at 10:42 am
This is a good case study on the value of competition in the marketplace. NWTel is finally investing in upgrading their infrastructure only because Elon Musk's Starlink system was a threat to their monopoly North of 60. Imagine the cost of other telco services in the north if competition was no longer prohibited by the CRTC and consumers had a CHOICE in their service providers.
Political leaders seem to believe that telecoms markets and pricing are competitive across the nation, that's because the southern regions are served by Telus, Bell, Rogers and some small start-ups. providing consumers with a choice of services and costs. Up here our choice is: High cost & slow service or nothing. There is noise coming out of Ottawa, that this disparity is something they want to address. Contact our MP Mr. Hanely and tell him your opinion on what is best for our telecommunications future.
Up 16 Down 1
Richard Bishop on Oct 29, 2022 at 7:55 am
Is NWT actually putting up some money, or is it all part of the 41 million grant they got from the CTRC in 2020.
Up 16 Down 1
Ghost the Wires on Oct 28, 2022 at 2:59 pm
Most people misunderstand internet speed metrics. Latency, the time it takes for your signal to get to the other person you’re talking to measured in milliseconds, is more important than bandwidth for two-way communication. Jitter, a form of measuring stability, is also important. If you have low latency and low jitter, you only need about 25mbps download and 5mbps upload on a stable connection to do most tasks from telemedicine to gaming. All this to say, don’t be fooled. The first days of this service will be lightening fast until more subscribers join up. Then it will become a nightmare like the current system.
NWTel has not increased the number of fibre optic lines running South. They’ve added a backup line, but no new main pipeline. Furthermore, they are negotiating with the third horse in the satellite space race, OneWeb, to give them an exclusive agreement and shut out competition. Do companies with a viable product act in this manner? There are other options out there coming online in the next six months or so. There are apps available that show more and more Low Earth Orbit satellites over our heads every day. Customer beware. Don’t sign any long term contracts. Or at least go in with your eyes open and asking yourself if this time will really be any different.
Up 24 Down 4
Yukonexe on Oct 28, 2022 at 12:50 pm
Good thing we can get Starlink now in the Yukon.
Up 49 Down 0
Nice, but way too expensive for 500MBps service on Oct 28, 2022 at 9:19 am
500mbps eh?
The current 500mbps plan at NWTel is $239.95 / month or 3 to 4 times the cost of Shaw or Telus in BC.
https://www.nwtel.ca/internet-plans
Their 1.5Gbps (3x faster than NWtels fastest) is currently $129 a month.
https://www.shaw.ca/internet/plans#plansOverview
I realize the infrastructure challenges in the north, but perhaps instead of going for 500mbps (which most of the time doesn't reach much over 300mbps anyways), why not concentrate the effort to ensure as close to zero downtime as possible and something in the $100/month range for 250mbps speeds.
You know, at least pretend you are in the 2020's .
Up 26 Down 6
iBrian on Oct 28, 2022 at 6:49 am
Oh great, more gaming. Just what society needed. Better gamers.
Up 33 Down 2
Thomas Brewer on Oct 27, 2022 at 11:16 pm
This is less a news article that it is a press release... where's the details?
Cost?
Upload speed?
Which communities?
Does it require new service from the pole and/or a new modem?
Up 10 Down 38
Jack on Oct 27, 2022 at 10:59 pm
Well done NWTel!!!
Up 28 Down 6
Juniper Jackson on Oct 27, 2022 at 9:35 pm
They neglected to attach a price to these packages. it will likely stay $20 a month for welfare households, I currently pay $200 a month for choppy service. My internet goes down in 'burps'. Not long, but enough to lose every thing I'm doing online. I might have to sell my first born to be able to afford this service.
Up 25 Down 2
bonanzajoe on Oct 27, 2022 at 8:28 pm
So, is Whitehorse included in this and what is the cost? Not much information. Or was this scant info relayed during a coffee break?
Up 21 Down 6
Politico on Oct 27, 2022 at 6:18 pm
Nice that the communities will, as usual, get the best service. Too bad those of us who do not live in cities just get DSL that kicks us off constantly!