We suppose it’s a sign of the times. We’ve got it on very good authority that cell service will be unrolled in Churchill on April 1st, 2010.
We’re not sure how we feel about this. If service reaches into the Churchill Wildlife Management Area, where most of our Tundra Buggy adventuring occurs, there are at least two potential outcomes:
1) We may better fulfill our guests’ expectations of available services at a tourism destination, or
2) We may negatively impact the integrity of our adventure tourism product.
Again, we’re not sure how we feel about cell phones ringing in the background while a guest first locks their gaze with a polar bear…
With upwards of 10,000 international guests visiting the community of 800 people on an annual basis, whichever way you slice it, MTS is going to make a mountain in roaming charges. What are your thoughts on cellular service in Churchill? We welcome your thoughts.
Having experienced the trip of a lifetime on your Tundra Buggies, I sure hope guests will be asked to leave their cell phones off while with the group.
Hard to stop progress but every second of beauty should be absorbed on the Tundra Buggy. I’d like to think that your guests would cooperate.
I totally agree with Wanda!
As a guide with Frontiers North (aka Tundra Buggies) I have watched as guests, at first befuddled by lack of instantaneous communication, begin to appreciate then even relish being ‘out of touch.’
It is a joy to walk down the streets of Churchill and say hi to the locals — not have everyones attentions on text messages & Blackberries.
It is more than the experience of seeing your first polar bear in the relative stillness of the Buggies … it is truely a holiday of a lifetime and I hope people will take the time to ‘get away from it all’ …. to really be in the moment.
As a seasonal worker in Churchill since 2001, I have seen the benefits of the now ubiquitous Internet. Dozens of free Wi Fi portals allow visitors to send home pictures and stories within minutes of reaching their rooms and laptops. For many who have Blackberries or iPhones which are Wi Fi capable, they essentially have a mini laptop on their belt or in the purse. Whereas befor we had a few visiting journalists write and promote our tourism, we now have thousands of visitors doing much the same thing daily.
Some form of wireless telephony has been available for dozens of years as two way radios are dial phone interconnected at base stations. You can make or receive international calls from any radio equipped vehicle. Many units actually have the touch number pad on the hand-held mic.
Cell towers and the supporting infrastructure don’t come cheap and as a rule have a 7 kilometer radius. That will give cell owners coverage as far as our airport but extremely spotty service past that. It’s not that the towers can’t reach further but the limits of the cell unit itself. At best you might receive the rare text message in a fringe area.
Cell phones like the newer Droid, or Experia X10 and the popular iPhone are Wi Fi capable and can install Skype. Even though we do not have cell service yet, many customers make local and long distance Skype calls from their dining room chairs.
Unfortunately, tour guides will need to make a new ruling. Leave the cell behind or else it is bound to interrupt the local culture tours, Parks Canada presentations and dinner parties.
[...] have an update from a story we posted on our blog in January about MTS rolling out cellular services to customers in Churchill. MTS [...]