WINNIPEG – MTS Allstream said today it will expand its CDMA wireless network, bringing coverage to eight new rural Manitoba communities in 2010, including the port of Churchill in northern Manitoba.
"We are excited to expand our mobile wireless services to new areas of our home province," said Kelvin Shepherd, president, MTS. "Our wireless network already provides the widest coverage available in Manitoba, with over 97% of the province’s population enjoying cellular coverage.
"Wireless communications are a great enabler, and this announcement is great news for the First Nations communities who will receive wireless coverage," said Ron Evans, Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.
New wireless coverage will be provided to approximately 11,000 people in the following Manitoba communities:
– Churchill
– Split Lake
– Oxford House
– Snow Lake
– Bisset
– Middlebro
– Ebb and Flow
– Fisher River
These new cellular sites, which represent an initial investment by MTS of approximately $2 million, will bring the ability to make phone calls, access e-mail and browse the Internet using a mobile device in these communities. Work on installing the sites is already under way in several locations, and MTS expects wireless services to come on line in these areas throughout the first half of 2010.
