Who luurves ya baby? Kuujjuaq gets cellular coverage

Nunavik, a region in northern Quebec, is gaining increased access to cellular phone services, reports Nunatsiaq Online. The Kuujjuaq area is set to get CDMA-based mobile coverage by the end of this year, under a deal between Lynx Mobility, owned by OmniGlobe, and Makivik Corp. OmniGlobe already supplies cellular services to the Naskapi community of Kawawachikamach, located to the south of Kuujjuaq, and to the Cree-Inuit communities of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuaraapik. The Quebec government previously gave Lynx Mobility CAD230,000 (USD210,000), or around half the deployment costs, for its rollout to Kawawachikamach, which was done in partnership with Naskapi Imuun Inc, owned by the Naskapi Nation. Deploying a cellular network covering all of Nunavik would cost about CAD5 million, according to a 2006 study by the Kativik Regional Government. Under Lynx Mobility’s business model, partners in aboriginal communities across the region would operate their own local cellular network, delivering mobile voice communication, text messaging and pre-paid billing services. Its service uses a combination of satellite and cellular technology, linking local networks via satellite to global networks.