I’m sure by now everyone who reads this is aware of the upgrade Northwestel has just done to their Internet Packages. I know I was excited even though I am unable to use it where I currently am. They are now offering faster speeds and high bandwidth caps the same as their old packages, which for a heavy user such as myself wonderful news. No longer will I need to continuously check my usage, always in fear of going over.

So that brings us to today and to the article in the Yellowknifer about how SSi considers what NWTel is doing unfair towards them. You see NWTel owns all the cable transporting Internet in to the Northwest Territories and so what SSi does is purchases bandwidth (Internet) as a wholesaler. Now you would think if your are purchasing it in bulk they would be getting the better deal or a more discounted price so that they can afford to resell it to the public. Well that does not seem to be the case SSi says. They believe they are paying 5 times more than what NWTel is offering their Internet Packages for to the public and small businesses. NWTel stated in their advertisements that the rates for small businesses will be going down by 40% and also says that over the last year they lowered wholesaler rates by 35%.

Now personally I have always used NWTel because of a couple reasons. One being it is easy to bundle with cable and second being they offer higher limits and faster speeds. The one thing I do like about SSi though is that portability of their modems. I would also like to point out that the average user does not need more than what SSi offers therefore still making it a semi level playing field. A suggestion would be if you can not match NWTel’s prices would be to focus strongly on something like customer service.

Now as everyone who reads this most likely uses one or the other I would love to get your take on the matter and which provider you use. I can see pros and cons with both and that is the case with most things, how do they affect you?

Here is the schedule for Folk on the Rocks July 18, 2009:

Left Stage

1:00 Poetic Champions Compose:

A musical discussion with Royal Wood,

Dana Sipos, Kat Burns (Forest City Lovers),

Laurie Sarkadi (Wake Up Hazel), Steve

Whittaker (Giant Con), Pat Braden and

Jesse James (Digawolf)

2:15 Art Johns

3:15 Forest City Lovers

Right Stage

1:15 Jim Green

2:15 Dragon Fli Empire

3:15 Swank

Cultural Stage

1:00 Behchokò Youth Drummers

1:45 Kaiva

2:15 Red Power Squad

3:15 Digawolf

Family Stage

1:00 Brian Heppelle – Learn to Tie a Fly!

Brought to you by the Fly Kid Foundation

2:00 Fish Tales

3:00 Charly Chiarelli – Once Upon a Pizzeria!

Beer Garden

1:00 Rocks the Folks Winner

1:45 Dennis Allen

2:45 Kaley Kinjo

3:45 Old Man Luedecke

5:00 Giant Con

6:00 Wake Up Hazel

7:00 Kobo Town

Canadian North Mainstage

Emcee: Rich Terfry

4:00 Festival Opening with Behchokò

Youth Drummers

4:15 Art Johns

5:00 Dana Sipos

5:45 T. Nile

6:45 Royal Wood

7:45 Collaboration Project: ExChanging Beats

Featuring Red Power Squad, Dragon

Fli Empire, Kaiva, Godson, Behchokò

Youth Drummers

8:30 Swank

9:30 Kodiak

10:30 Digawolf

11:15 Sam Roberts Band

There is a lot going on and I hope to get out to most of the stages, minus the beer garden stage unfortunately. If you are going to be there during any part of the festival let me know, I would love to meet up with some of you.

Well the events are starting to slow down but there are still some worth checking out.

Thursday July 2

Giant Miner Tour

Where & When: Pick-up at City Hall at 6:30 pm

Join us on a walking tour of the Mining Heritage Display at the entrance to Giant (Old) Town site. Hop into a van for a guided tour of the Giant property with a stop at “C-Dry” for coffee and reclamation display viewing. After this, return to City Hall for drop off. Contact Kelley at weatherby@ssimicro.com for more details. Tour free to registered Homecoming guests (wear your button).

Northland Utilities 13 Annual Customer Appreciation BBQ

Where & When: 11 am to 2 pm 481 Range Lake Road

Join us for our 13th annual customer appreciation barbecue. There will be hamburgers, hotdogs and cupcakes available for lunch. Be sure to pick up your balloon and safety stickers from Louie the Lightning Bug. A fun family event for all ages. Contact Megan at 873-4865 for more info.

Canadian North Youth Golf Clinic

Where & When: 9 am to 11:30 am Yellowknife Golf Course

Free clinic open to the ages of 10 to 17. All equipment will be available for use.

Perfect your technique on the greens and enjoy a fun morning!

Friday July 3

YK75 Exclusive Family BBQ & Volunteer Appreciation Wind-up

Where & When: Start: 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm McNiven Beach by mini-golf on Franklin Ave

Those who registered with YK75 will enjoy a family BBQ and fun events for all ages!! A great perk of YK75!! Generously sponsored by Nuna Logistics

YK75 Laugh Lounge

Where & When: Explorer Hotel, Doors Open at 7pm

An evening of hilarious entertainment! Music, comedy & a comedy hypnotist show. Stop in for a big bag of laughs. Tickets $45 each at JJ Hobbies and the Visitor’s Centre. Contact Tiffany at 669-9906 or tifgallivan@gmail.com for more info. Open to 15 years and up.

Earlier this morning I was speaking with a friend, who was telling me that Rogers may have signed a deal with Ice Wireless to bring their services to the north. What does this mean, well it means not only would we get a GSM Cell Network that supports data but we’d get the use of an iPhone up here as well. You can currently use a Rogers phone up here but on Ice Wireless’ network but with no data and at $.90 a minute why even bother.

Having Rogers come up, even if it is a year away would save me a lot of hassle if I get an iPhone when I leave the north to go to school in August.

When I heard this wonderful bit of gossip I wanted to see if I could find any more information on it, but unfortunately I didn’t. What I did find was this:

Click to Enlarge

As you can see it is a YellowPages search for Cell services here in Yellowknife, NT and not only does it say we have Rogers up here, it also says we have Fido. Huh!

I also had a chuckle when I didn’t see Bell on the list and it is actually up here.

UPDATE: I may have been Mistaken. It may actually be Ice Wireless, which makes more sense as it is already a GSM provider.