VANCOUVER – Vancouver-based RuralCom Corporation will construct and operate cellular telephone networks serving the Alaska Highway and the northern BC North Coast, areas currently without cellular service or which have “spotty coverage”.
The company said that the proposed Alaska Highway Network will provide coverage along 1,685 km of the Alaska Highway, from Wonowon, BC through to Beaver Creek, YT on the Alaska-Yukon Territory border, and serving Fort Nelson, BC, plus Watson Lake and Whitehorse, YT.
RuralCom’s proposed network along the BC North Coast will provide coverage along the BC Inside Passage waterway from just north of Vancouver Island to the Alaska-BC border, including the BC communities of Bella Bella, Masset, Queen Charlotte City and Prince Rupert. It will also provide service to the 1.8 million cruise ship passengers traveling to and from Alaska during the May to October season.
The Alaska Highway network will be completed and operational later this year, while construction of the BC North Coast network will begin this year with completion expected in 2010.
