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2011
Year in Review
Continuing our
dedication to our customers
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Welcome
A year can be a long time in the life of a company, especially a telecommunications
company, even if we are in our sixties. And while there wasn’t anything particularly
wrong with us in January 2011, I know that over the last 12 months, we saw some
pretty important changes and improvements. You’ll read about them in this report.
2011 was a year where we expanded our network, strengthened our infrastructure
and provided more products and better services to more people across the North.
Cell phone service, high-speed internet, digital cable and cable home phone,
(all four in some areas), are available now in more than 60 communities
in our operating territory. The reliability of those services was strengthened
considerably when we completed a redundant fibre link between the Yukon
and Northwest Territories.
2011 was a year where we moved even further towards streamlining services to our
customers. The one-stop shop concept for purchases, repair and billing came closer
to reality and is on schedule to be completed by 2013. 2011 was a year we saw our
efforts to promote our diverse communities rewarded and recognized and it was
a year for creating new relationships with Aboriginal businesses.
A Word from
Our President
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, 2011 was a year where our employees rose
to the challenge. I don’t think you’ll find a more committed and dedicated workforce
in the North. They gave their all and demonstrated their flexibility as they adapted
to the changing business landscape. Through their hard work, they made this
company successful. It is because of our employees I will confidently say in January
2012, Northwestel is even better than it was a year ago, and for that I thank each
and everyone.
We’re good now, but we are
going to be great.
Someone asked me the other day if I thought Northwestel was
a better company in January 2012 than it was in January 2011.
It took me no time to say ‘Absolutely!’
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Paul Flaherty
President and CEO, Northwestel
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Did You Know? Nearly half of our
It sounds like a simple enough concept: a customer calls the Northwestel Customer
Care Centre, she gives her name to the Customer Service Representative who
brings up her account information on the computer.
The customer’s billing information for all of her Northwestel services – phone,
wireless, cable television, internet – appears on one screen. In an instant, the
service rep can answer a question about her bill, recommend a better product
bundle or offer a new feature that better suits her lifestyle.
customers (44%) live in the three capital
cities – Whitehorse, Yellowknife, and Iqaluit.
Seventy per cent of our communities
have less than 500 customers
While it sounds easy, the devil is in the details. Ken Todd is up to his neck
in details.
“It’s like trying to overhaul the engine of a car while it’s travelling at 100 kilometers
an hour down the highway,” jokes Todd, Business Transition consultant on the
project. It’s called “One View of the Customer”, part of the Business Systems
Evolution (BSE) program of improvement projects at Northwestel.
the whole package. Every aspect of the company – from accounting to purchasing
to human resources – is impacted in some way by BSE.
It’s been a challenge, to say the least.
In 2010, Todd and a team of managers, supervisors, service reps and consultants
began working out just how BSE will transform Northwestel. In 2011, the
company’s wireless platform was moved over to the new system; in 2012 the
telco part of the company – phone and ADSL internet – will be integrated as well;
video and cable internet services will follow in 2013.
“We learned a lot with the wireless migration,” says Todd of the 2011 project.
“We did miss a few things, but the lessons learned have definitely helped smooth
the process for the next stages.”
Todd says improving the customer experience is the ultimate goal for Northwestel.
It’s a monumental task. Todd’s group is taking about nine different information
databases and customer service systems – many that have been running
for 15-20 years – and updating some, eliminating others, and integrating
“We want the customer interaction to be faster, simpler, and better,” he says.
“And we want the experience for people serving our customers to be faster,
simpler and better as well.”
March
Northwestel was recognized as one
of Canada’s Top Diversity Employers
by the Globe and Mail
Media fans in Fort Smith rejoice as digital television
and cable Internet come to town
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Transforming Our Business
Expanding Services
Across Our Region
2011 saw Northwestel expand and upgrade
its networks to give customers faster and more
reliable service, and more choice of products
both at home and at work.
Amanda, Dealer Relations, visits Pangnirtung Nunavut.
Westarm Twilight, an oil painting by Miguel Chenier
of Cambridge Bay, adorns Nunavut’s phone
directory cover
Robbie Craig of Behchokö’s painting
The Untouched is the winner of the
NWT directory cover contest
Westarm twilight
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The snow was already starting to fly in Nunavut when Kathy Anilniliak, a call centre
team leader from Iqaluit, travelled to the community of Pangnirtung to help launch
cell service there in October. Pang, as the community is known, became the eighth
in Nunavut to receive wireless service from Northwestel.
Did You Know? Northwestel has installed
3,837 kilometers of high-capacity fibre optic
cable – enough cable to stretch from Edmonton
to Montreal. Installing that line can cost as
much as $80/metre to lay fibre-optic cable in
some parts of our territory – 10 times as much
as it costs in the South.
“Pangnirtung is such a beautiful place; it was really nice to wake up to the
breathtaking view every day, from the sun coming up in the morning to the sun
setting at night, it was just amazing,” she said of her trip. “The community was
just so welcoming and happy that cell service had become available there.”
Pangnirtung’s 1,300 residents were among thousands of Northwestel customers
who enjoyed new or improved services in 2011. That’s because Northwestel built
redundancies into its operating system making it more reliable, upgraded the
cable network enabling the expansion of digital voice and television services
to many communities, and replaced software to provide a better quality product
to many more.
Marsh Lake: Cell phone service was extended beyond Whitehorse after Latitude
Wireless installed a new 3G site in the Marsh Lake area.
Northwest Territories: Broadband internet access was provided to Dettah,
Tsiigehtchic and Tulita with assistance from Industry Canada. Late in the year,
Northwestel partnered with Falcon communications to provide broadband internet
services to Jean Marie River, Wrigley, Kakisa and Nahanni Butte bringing the
number of communities served by Northwestel with broadband internet access
in the Northwest Territories to 24.
Other 2011 highlights include:
Iqaluit: Cellular customers now enjoy faster data speeds on their smart
phones and a better call quality as a result of a network upgrade from
CDMA 1xRTT to EVDO.
Northwestern British Columbia: Northwestel extended its modern high-speed
telecommunications network to Dease Lake 9 and Iskut 6, locally known as
Eddontenajo, in partnership with ANTCO. With the increase in both internet speed
and reliability, the communities now have better access to health-care services
and online education opportunities.
Yukon and the NWT: Voice Mail service across the two territories benefitted
from a $1.6 million upgrade and the installation of new software.
Fort Smith: A $2.3 million investment in equipment and infrastructure
improvements to the newly purchased Fort Smith Cable system in September,
enabled Northwestel to introduce digital TV and cable internet to the area.
Fort Nelson: Northwestel upgraded the cable system in the community
enabling customers to tune into digital TV.
April
Lillian Hvatum-Brewster is appointed
to Northwestel’s Board of Directors
The Untouched
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Serving Our Customers
On Time,
On Budget, In Scope
Northwestel knows its customers and the
diverse conditions that make our operating area
so unique. That helps us get the job done right.
Pond Inlet, Nunavut
Three Northwestel employees have their heads
shaved to raise money for cancer research.
Northwestel and employees donated $8,000
to the Canadian Cancer Society.
Northwestel Ski Loppet
in Yellowknife Goes Green
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When the RCMP decided to upgrade its communication networks at every
detachment across the country, it went to the experts at Bell Canada.
When Bell Canada looked at the job facing them in the North, they came to us.
The project had huge technical and logistical challenges. More than 66
detachments – some in the most remote outposts in the country – needed serious
technical upgrades. Service was so slow in some isolated regions that it could
take an hour to download a single document – if it could be downloaded at all.
The new system had to be fast, reliable, and provide secure internet access
for sensitive communications.
Carmen, Sales Account Manager, at Northwestel’s Iqaluit location.
“With a 12-month turnaround time on the project, there was little room for delay
or error,” recalls the project’s business prime, Paul Gruner. “We faced some
massive logistical challenges, to say the least.”
“They said they were amazed by our ability to work under the tight deadlines and
in those conditions,” says Bongers. “They also appreciate how we’ve enhanced
their day-to-day business.”
Whitehorse’s Hans Bongers was given the nod to project manage the job. He had
to co-ordinate the activities of about 40 people, moving crews and equipment
thousands of kilometers, while taking into consideration blizzards, fog, flight
cancellations and anything else working in the North entails.
Bongers admits there were a few sleepless nights, especially when upgrading the
RCMP’s service meant having to modernize an entire community’s infrastructure.
“But we delivered on-budget, in-scope, and on time,” he says.
“Hans was constantly battling with unknowns, like the weather,” says Gruner.
“It was his ability to adapt quickly to changing conditions that made this project
a success. He did a phenomenal job.”
The project has had a spin-off benefit for civilians in these remote locations.
“Having the RCMP as an anchor tenant has allowed us to leverage that investment
to bring more services to those communities,” says Gruner. “Many remote northern
communities now have better infrastructure overall thanks to this project.”
The RCMP was extremely satisfied with this project, as was Bell Canada.
MAY
Yukon’s first 3G wireless service outside
of Whitehorse begins at Marsh Lake
A moonlight walk inspired this year’s
Yukon/Northern BC phone directory artisT
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Serving Our Customers
Making Our
Customers Count
Northwestel employees are committed
to improving the customer experience.
Throughout 2011, many went the extra mile.
Aven Lee, Customer Service Rep, at work in Whitehorse.
Photo: archbould.com
June
Directory recycling raises $9,000 for NWT schools;
program begins in Iqaluit
Xplornet Communications acquires broadband
subscribers in Alberta and BC from NWTel-owned
NetKaster
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Did You Know? We’re your neighbours.
Northwestel is the largest private sector
employer of permanent northern residents,
with more than 600 people on the payroll.
Sometimes employees push themselves out of their comfort zones
to help a customer.
Damien Qaunaq is a Community Service Tech in Arctic Bay, a town of 800 people
on the north-western tip of Baffin Island. Damien received an order for a phone line
in a recently developed part of town. Unfortunately the new line had not yet been
connected to the main line.
A couple of days later Shannon got this email:
“Our internet is connected! Thank you so much for all of your assistance these last
few days. Without your help, none of this would have occurred so thank you for
taking the time to ensure/ provide quality service. Please accept our most sincere
thanks for your efforts – I hope Northwestel values your work as much as we do.”
Although Damien is not a splicer, Robert Steele, a cable splicer based in Iqaluit
rushed him the required tools and walked him through the procedure by phone so
that our customer got connected as quickly as possible.
And sometimes employees find innovative ways to help their colleagues.
When we think of customers, it’s not only those people who buy our services,
it’s also the people we work with every day. Northwestel Financial analyst, Matt
Brasnett consulted with his colleagues in Customer Experience to create a detailed
analytic tool that has saved them time and improved the financial information they
needed to help them run the business.
“What made the difference here?” asked Joe Manoll, Northwestel General
Manager for Iqaluit. “Working creatively together. This meant a speedy hook up
for the customer. For Northwestel it meant keeping a splicer at work in Iqaluit and
saving thousands of dollars in travel costs”.
Sometimes employees do that little extra to put a smile
on a customer’s face.
Shannon Tessier’s job doesn’t involve talking directly to customers but one evening,
as she was packing up to leave work for the day, she heard someone ringing
her office building’s doorbell. At the front door was a woman who had missed
her appointment window to have her services moved to her new home. She was
frantic, as she needed her internet connected before the weekend. Shannon took
the customer’s information, made some calls and got the internet service installed
in the customer’s home before end of day Friday. Her diligence paid off.
With multiple cost centres and expense items on numerous spreadsheets, the CE
team was spending many hours crunching numbers. Matt developed a reporting
system that pulls together the budget and actual results in minutes. He used what
he created to develop a new and improved expense forecasting template which has
become instrumental in calculating our Year End Expectancy reports.
Whether at home or at work – yours or ours – Northwestel employees are
committed to putting the customer first.
NOrthwestel’s NEW fibre optic link
successfully reroutes traffic to
avoid a major service outage in the NWT
Northwestel sponsors aboriginal day festivities
from Fort Nelson to Inuvik to Iqaluit
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Serving Our Customers
The Reliability
Factor
Northwestel continues to invest heavily in its
infrastructure to build a more reliable service
for our customers.
JuLY
august
More than 60 remote communities now receiving
high speed Internet service through Northwestel
Northwestel receives COR certification for taking
a ‘best practices’ approach to implementing health,
safety and return-to-work programs
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Improving Our Workplace
Reflecting Those
We Serve
As a Northern company, we believe it is
important that our workforce reflects the people
we serve. Our customers want to do business
with fellow northerners.
Photo: archbould.com
OCTOBER
Northwestel launches cellular voice service
in Pangnirtung on Baffin Island
Dettah is the most recent community
to enjoy Northwestel broadband Internet access
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Did You Know? We support local business.
In 2011 Northwestel was selected as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers,
an award presented by the editorial team at Canada’s Top 100 Employers.
Northwestel was the only company from the North recognized for this award
and is one of only four winners with less than 1,000 employees.
Northwestel spent more than $1.6 million
on air travel in the north in 2011, much of it
on charters to service equipment in remote
locations. We spent just under $7 million
for products and services from aboriginal
companies in 2011.
Northwestel knows it’s important to maximize Aboriginal participation
in the company.
We have developed several initiatives to attract and retain Aboriginal employees
including an apprenticeship program that gives technicians the opportunity
to attend technical school; diversity training, and the hiring of local people as
Community Service Technicians.
We know hiring local is good business – it provides better service for customers,
increases employee retention and helps grow and develop the local workforce
and economy.
We have a strong commitment to giving back to the communities in which
we operate – not only by investment, sponsorships and donation, but by providing
more than 600 jobs and competitive salaries for the people of the North.
Through our Diversity Initiatives – like creating an Aboriginal Liaison position
on our management team, targeting Aboriginal youth for our scholarship fund
and operating an Inuktitut contact centre – we continue to grow our Aboriginal
representation in our company.
Some members of the Northwestel Iqaluit team.
“This is an incredible honour for Northwestel,” President and CEO Paul Flaherty
said of the award. “Ensuring that our company is welcoming to employees of all
races, cultures, religions and abilities is not simply a project at Northwestel, it is
how we operate and what we strive for in our hiring practices.”
Is it perfect? Not yet. Of our 600 employees, about 70 are self-identified
as Aboriginal. But we feel we are moving in the right direction. The Diversity
Award is a sign of that.
November
Network upgrades bring faster, better service
for wireless customers in Iqaluit
The show “Maximum Limit Fishing”, broadcast
on Northwestel Community television,
heads for the big time!
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Improving Our Workplace
Growing in
Partnership
Our partnerships with Aboriginal
businesses drive growth in the North.
DECEMBER
Northwestel awards $20,000 to outstanding
post-secondary students from across the North
Whitehorse Northwestel employees tied red
ribbons to company vehicles in support of MADD
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Three BC First Nations communities will access
broadband internet service for the first time
Not only does Northwestel strive to ensure our workforce reflects the communities
we serve, it endeavours to partner with Aboriginal organizations and governments.
2011 saw us grow and develop in this area. These close business relationships
have resulted in increased revenue and a larger customer base for Northwestel and
more effective relationships with regional Aboriginal organizations. They have also
helped develop business and technical skills within the Aboriginal organizations, as
well as presented the communications industry as a potential career opportunity
for members of their communities.
Working on an overhead line in Iqaluit.
Ardicom Digital Communications Inc., created in the 1990’s, was Northwestel’s
first partnership. Since then we have established seven more, from Nunavut
to British Columbia:
• Waterways Communications Inc. – a joint venture with the Fort Nelson First
Nation, provides communications products using both satellite and microwave
technology for resource companies operating within the Horn River Basin.
• L atitude Wireless Inc. – in partnership with the Dakwakada Development
Corporation (the development arm of the Champagne Aishihik First Nations),
offers cell phone service throughout the Yukon Territory.
• A ll Nations Trust Company, ANTCO – provides financial services to Aboriginal
entrepreneurs. It managed the Pathways to Technology project, a province-wide
First Nations connectivity initiative in northern BC
• Tundra Communications Inc. – in partnership with the Inuvialuit Development
Corporation (the development arm of the Inuvialuit people), offers a full suite
of telecommunications services to natural resource companies operating in the
Inuvialuit Settlement Region.
• Falcon Communication Ltd. – is the General Partner of Broadband Business
Alliance Limited Partnership and has acted as the federal government’s
community champion for the NWT Broadband Project since 2005
• ATCO Structures & Logistics and NASCo – is a joint-venture partnership with
ATCO Structures & Logistics and the Northern Aboriginal Services Company
(NASCo) to operate and maintain 157 Northwestel microwave sites in the
Northwest Territories, northern British Columbia, and the Yukon.
• Tahltan River Communications Inc. – in partnership with the Tahltan First Nations
Development Corporation (the development arm of the Tahltan First Nation)
provides voice, internet, and data services to resource companies operating
in north-western British Columbia.
A CRTC decision opens the North to local
telephone competition
For a complete list of Northwestel
Media Releases please visit here
www.nwtel.ca/media-room
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A Part of Our Community
Building Stronger
Communities
Supporting the communities where we live,
work and play will continue to distinguish
Northwestel from our competitors.
Northwestel sponsors Hockey Day in Canada.
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From spelling bees to cross country skiing, Northwestel contributed more
than $551, 000 in sponsorships and in-kind donations to events and
organizations in 2011.
We know the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik, the Kivaliq Science Educators
in Nunavut, and the Hospital Foundations in Yukon, Fort Nelson and Northwest
Territories, just to name a few, make our communities better places to live. That’s
why we continue to sponsor them and other organizations like them whenever we
can. Many communities rely on Northwestel for support for everything from their
communications needs to the maintenance of their local sports fields.
Annual Northwestel Spelling Bee in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Northwestel encourages employees to get involved in their communities through
the Volunteer Involvement Fund. The program converts employee volunteer hours
into direct financial support for an organization of an employees’ choice. In 2011
Northwestel donated $10,000 to employee causes and our employees volunteered
1,500 hours of their time to help various community groups.
Northwestel has also been a legacy sponsor of the Arctic Winter Games since
they began in Yellowknife in 1970. The sport competition for northern and arctic
student athletes is held every two years. In 2011, our employees, several of whom
had children competing in the games, were in the thick of planning for the 2012
Games, taking place in Whitehorse in March.
We’re in your communities. Our children go to the same schools, we shop in the
same stores, and we live in your neighbourhoods. We know our success is tied
to yours. Northwestel thanks you for your loyalty. We strive to be the
communications company of choice in the North.
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Northwestel is proud to be a longtime supporter of the NWT Soccer Association.
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The Last Word
A Word from You
Thanks for taking the time to look back
at 2011 with us. We leave the last word
to you, our customers.
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...I want to thank you in writing for the help that I received from Debbie today.
I have called in before and received good help... but am overly impressed with
the guidance and service I received from Debbie.
Mel, Whitehorse
Northwestel donates more than $9,000 to NWT
schools participating in the Directory Recycling Program.
I had trouble with my internet and everyone at Northwestel was
extremely helpful. The technicians spent hours on the phone trying to help me.
Today Doug came to Carcross and fixed my internet... Doug was friendly, assuring
and competent. He said he would do everything he could to fix it and he did.
I am really grateful and extremely appreciative of the patient, helpful staff that
I have dealt with.
We thank you for having Peter Skerget fix the antenna on Mt. Iskut... It is nice
to call out or receive a call and understand the other person.
Margaret & Richard, Iskut
Beverly, Carcross
I just finished speaking with your customer service person Lee. I called to sort
out my cable TV programming. I have to tell you she is fantastic. Great service,
very pleasant and professional. Did a great job helping me get new programming
set up and made it all quick, easy, and fun. I expect you already know but you have
a great person on your team but I am sure you won’t mind hearing it again.
I just wanted to pass along how handy your internet usage e-mail tool is. Last
week we received the automated e-mail telling us that we had already used 50
percent of our 15 gigabyte limit by that date which we knew we hadn’t... I came
to the abrupt realization that someone must have cracked our wireless internet
password and were having a great old time downloading god-knows-what at our
expense. I quickly reset our username and password for the wireless modem,
and since then, usage seems to be back down to its regular low level.
James, Whitehorse
Phillip, Whitehorse
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The Board
Board of Directors
Officers
Charles Brown, Chairman – Toronto, ON
Charles Brown, Chairman – Toronto, ON
Robert J. Hunt – Calgary, AB
Paul Flaherty, President And CEO –
Whitehorse, YT
Lillian Hvatum-Brewster – Yellowknife, NT
Jason Bilsky,
Chief Financial Officer and Vice President,
Corporate Services – Whitehorse, YT
Richard I. Hardy – Nanoose, BC
Piers McDonald – Whitehorse, YT
Don Pumphrey, Vice President, Information
and Technology Management – Whitehorse, YT
Terry Mosey –Oakville, ON
Mark Walker, Vice President,
Business Solutions – Yellowknife, NT
Louise Vertes – Yellowknife, NT
Helen Klengenberg – Iqaluit, NU
Barb Szabo,
Vice President, Business Transition –
Whitehorse, YT
Andrew Smith – Toronto, ON
Curtis Shaw,
Vice President, Consumer and
Small Business – Whitehorse, YT
Susan Erwin, Vice President
of Customer Experience – Yellowknife, NT
Leslie McRae, Corporate Secretary
to the Board – Whitehorse, YT
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For more information please visit nwtel.ca
Copyright ©2012 Northwestel Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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