Northwestel Inc. (stylized as NorthwesTel) is a Canadian telecommunications company that is the
incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC) and long-distance carrier in the territories of
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
, the
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
, and
Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...
. Originally established in 1979 by the
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
from CN's northern telecommunications assets, it has been owned by
BCE Inc.
BCE Inc., formerly Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., is a publicly traded Canadian holding company for Bell Canada, which includes telecommunications providers and various mass media assets under its subsidiary Bell Media Inc. Founded through a cor ...
(formerly Bell Canada Enterprises) since 1988.
Origins
Until World War II
The earliest telephone service in Northwestel's present-day operating territory was in
Dawson City
Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yuko ...
, established in 1899 just after the peak of the
Klondike Gold Rush. However, that system was not linked into the North American phone network until the 1960s. Communications with the outside required the use of radio or radio telegraphy and did not connect with telephone lines. The independent company, Yukon Telephone Syndicate, was purchased by CN Telegraph (CNT) from Northern Light Power and Coal Company of England in 1962, and a dial telephone system was installed later in the 1960s to replace the 19th-century magneto board.
Robert W. Service
Robert William Service (January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958) was a British-Canadian poet and writer, often called "the Bard of the Yukon". The middle name 'William' was in honour of a rich uncle. When that uncle neglected to provide for hi ...
was one of the few Dawson residents who could afford telephone service during his residence in Dawson prior to
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
At least one other independent company was established in
Whitehorse
Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's Downtown Whitehorse, downtown ...
and was able to trace its service back to 1901. The Mayo Utilities Company was established in 1920 and provided telephone, electricity and water in
Mayo and
Elsa/
Keno City
Keno City is a small community in Yukon, Canada at the end of the Silver Trail highway. Keno City was the site of a former silver- lead mining area proximal to Keno Hill. Keno City is 13 kilometres away from Elsa, Yukon, which is owned by Hecl ...
. It was sold in 1942, and the owner sold off the electric and water operations and joined it with the Whitehorse company to form the Yukon Telephone Company.
The
Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (RCCS or RC Sigs; french: links=no, Corps des transmissions royal du Canada, CTRC) is a component within the Canadian Armed Forces' Communications and Electronics Branch, consisting of all members of that perso ...
established long-distance shortwave telegraphic communications stations in the north in 1923, prior to World War II. Their function was to enable the relay of telegraphic messages to and from the wired CN and CP telegraph networks in the south. From 1959 to March 1960, the stations were handed off to the federal Department of Transport. By 1972, they had become redundant to the fully-developed CNT local and long-distance telephone service, with access to the CN Telegram service via the telephone operator.
World War II
In 1943, the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
completed the first terrestrial long-distance system in the form of a pole line along the