Iristel launches first ever local phone competition in Canada's North for consumers and business

Iristel launches first ever local phone competition in  Canada’s North for consumers and business

Choice now available in Yellowknife, Whitehorse and Inuvik for customers to switch while  keeping their phone number; more to come with advanced Internet-based services for smaller  communities slated for 2013

YELLOWKNIFE, NT, December 17, 2012 – Consumers and businesses in Yellowknife,  Whitehorse and Inuvik can now keep their existing phone numbers and move to Iristel’s  advanced phone network for significantly less than they are paying currently for local phone  service.

“Our network is fired up, connected to the south and ready to go for people in Canada’s North  who are tired of high monopoly prices for landline phone service,” said Samer Bishay, President  and CEO of Iristel Inc. “We’re offering more advanced services at lower prices than the  incumbent phone company.”

The new local phone service is being sold in Yellowknife through ICE Wireless (toll-free at 855- 474-7423) and Global Storm (867-873-8611), and in Whitehorse through Midarctic Technology  Services (867-668-6024) and Polar Group ICT (867-668-2546) and in Inuvik New North  Networks (867-777-2111.)

“Residential and business customers can cut their local service phone bill in half, keep their  existing phone numbers, not have to buy new equipment or change anything in the way they  make calls now. It’s simple to change, simple to use and simply more affordable,” Mr. Bishay  said.

The CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) last year broke  the final phone monopoly in North America and set in place regulations allowing competition in  Canada’s North. Connecting its VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) network to the rest of  Canada and the world via the Internet was the last piece of the puzzle for local phone choice in  Canada’s North.

“We just completed our final tests and our network now reaches the North with cutting-edge  technology and advanced 21st century services,” said Maged Bishara, Iristel’s Vice-President  Operations. “This is significant, not only for consumers and businesses in the North but for all of  Canada because it is the first step in bridging the digital divide that has separated Canada’s  North from the rest of the country.”

VoIP technology is more flexible and more affordable than the plain old telephone service  offered by the incumbent phone company. For example, a business can get a multiline PBX  phone system hosted by Iristel in the cloud and avoid paying up to $20,000 in upfront costs for office phone equipment and never pay long-distance charges for internal company calls from  one office to another.

Iristel, which has been licensed since 2000 by the CRTC as a CLEC (Competitive Local  Exchange Carrier), now brings its many other VoIP telecom services to the North, including  Virtual Faxing that automatically converts paper faxes to digital and delivers them as email,  Video Conferencing, Hosted Auto Attendant, IP Trunking and Wholesale Services.

“We are a pro-competition company,” Mr. Bishay said. “If a reseller wishes to compete against  the incumbent and us, that’s fine. We will provide them with the necessary resources at  affordable wholesale rates. We do this because we believe competition brings innovation and  fairer prices for consumers and business.”

Other consumer benefits include features like Call Waiting, 3-Way Calling and Voicemail for $2  month. Iristel service includes free Visual Call Display, free Caller ID and free Caller ID blocking  with no activation fees, hidden charges or contracts. For a limited time only, Iristel is offering  extended local calling that enables customers to call all 867 numbers for free, not only the ones  residing in their town.

Through its partner company ICE Wireless, customers switching to Iristel’s landline CLEC  services can also get mobility phone service in the North.

About Iristel

Established in 1999, Iristel Inc. (“Iristel”) was granted a carrier license by the Canadian RadioTelevision Commission (CRTC) in 2000 and is one of Canada’s largest VoIP service providers  with a coast-to-coast network. Iristel offers a complete portfolio of IP services in Canada,  including hosted IP PBX, virtual faxing, virtual roaming, and global IP trunking products and  services. For more information please visit www.iristel.ca.