WINNIPEG – Sixteen years after first launching cellular service, MTS announced today it has topped 300,000 cellular customers.
MTS launched cellular service on a riverboat near the historic Forks on May 6, 1988. At that time, cellular coverage was spotty, the cell phones were big and heavy (which is why the phones of the day earned the nickname ‘the brick phone’) and the phones and per-minute rates were quite expensive. As a result, the market was small and limited mainly to mobile business customers.
"We’ve come a long way since then, as you can now have a cell phone the size of a credit card and use it not only as a way of talking to people, but to send text messages, surf the Internet, and take and send pictures and video," says Cheryl Barker, president MTS (Manitoba).
Barker adds that MTS now has over 150 cell towers throughout Manitoba, providing service to 97% of Manitoba’s population, including Thompson, Flin Flon, The Pas and Norway House in northern Manitoba.
MTS is the only wireless provider in Manitoba that allows customers to bundle the service with either high speed Internet, or MTS TV, or both, to save between $10 and $15 per month.
MTS has invested millions of dollars to improve its wireless network throughout the province, recognizing that the cell phone has gone from being a luxury item to being a ‘must have’ service. Wireless phones are among the fastest growing consumer products in history.
