Communications network makes pagers effective in several Ontario cities.

Communications network makes pagers effective in several Ontario cities

A newly created communications network has made pager service available from Windsor to Thunder Bay.

Through its offices in Timmins, Sudbury and North Bay and through its network affiliates, Motorola in Thunder Bay and Maclean Hunter in southern Ontario, Northern Communications Ltd. has established a network of co-ordinated frequencies across the province which allows a client to be hailed in any major centre utilizing his existing pager.

There are plans to extend the network into Sault Ste. Marie, though no affiliate was established at press time.

"It will all depend on how many people want the service," said Mike Shantz, division manager for Northern Communications in Sudbury.

In the past, if a client required a pager in any other city, a pager dedicated to the frequency used in that city had to be purchased.

A business person from Timmins who regularly travelled to Thunder Bay, Sudbury and Toronto, for example, had to purchase four separate pagers.

"In the past, the alternatives were difficult and expensive," explained Shantz.

The problem exists in the north because of the relatively small population-base compared to southern Ontario, said Shantz.

He said the difference between Northern and southern Ontario can be seen in the speedy by which new technology is introduced to the two districts.

For example, he said the alpha/numeric pager has been available to business people in southern Ontario for several years, however it was only introduced in North Bay last month, in Timmins approximately four months ago and in Sudbury about two years ago.

Admitting that the newly created network does nothing to correct the communications gaps which exist between the cities, it does, however, tie the cities together.

"This is news for the business traveller. You can use the same pager all over Ontario," claims Shantz.

The network can accommodate pagers which range in sophistication from the original tone-mode pagers to the alpha/numeric pagers, which print out messages on an LCD display.

CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT

Currently, the page must originate from the area in which the traveller is located. Therefore, in order to place a message, a caller must contact the Northern Communications office or affiliate in the given city.

Shantz reports that Northern Communications is currently increasing the service to allow a caller to leave a message with any office within the network.

"One number is all that will be necessary to contact anyone, anywhere," said Shantz.

The benefit to the upgraded system will be a drastic reduction in long-distance phone charges.

The cost for the service, reports Shantz, is from $22 per month to as much as $100 per month, depending on a number of variables.

The price is structured according to such factors as the number of areas which will be accessed and the sophistication of the pager being used.

For example, an alpha/numeric pager dedicated to one city will cost the subscriber approximately $55 per month.

One large organization which should benefit from the network, claims Shantz, is the provincial government.

He explained that as a result of the government's decentralization program, provincial officials will require a more efficient means of communication.

"It (the network) will make the business community and those in the public sector much more efficient and better able to respond to their customers," he said.