Northern Two-Way Radio Service About To Expire

Northern Two-Way Radio Service About To Expire

Wednesday, August 06, 2008 at 13:08

SaskTel says the Northern Radio Telephone Service will be ended this fall.

The utility has been wanting to abandon the two-way radio service for years, because the age of the system has made it difficult to keep it maintained.

Proponents of the system, such as trappers, have been able to convince SaskTel to keep it going in recent years.

But the Crown corporation recently sent a letter to the 72 people still using it, saying the system will be shut down on October 10th.

SaskTel spokesperson Michelle Englot says arrangements are in place to make the transition to satellite phones easier.

She says the utility will pay all start-up costs for all NRTS users that make the switch to satellite phones.

Englot also says owners of two-way radios will still be able to communicate with each other — they just won’t be able to be connected to the main telephone network.