Eastlink to launch wireless service in northern Ontario on June 1

Eastlink, a private wireless carrier owned by the Bragg family, first launched its wireless service in Canada in 2013, with the goal of bringing east coast Canadians affordable rate plans and devices.

Eastlink currently has LTE coverage in most of Nova Scotia and PEI, which the carrier proudly says is “Canada’s only 100 percent LTE mobile network.” According to sources, Eastlink plans to expand its network with plans to head  west to Ontario in the coming weeks.

During the 700MHz auction in 2014, the Bragg family purchased paired upper C1 spectrum in the Maritimes and Northern Ontario and this is what is being used to bring the network to life.

Those located in Timmins can mark June 1st off on their calendar, and Sudbury residents can expect wireless service to go live June 9th. At launch, Timmins service will be located in the core of the city and will expand to South Porcupine at a later date. The same goes for Sudbury with wireless service first launcing in the heart of the city. Once subscribers step outside the coverage area they’ll be roaming on Telus’, Bell’s or Rogers’ network.

Eastlink will have a retail location at the Timmins Square and in the New Sudbury Centre.

Unfortunately, we do not have specific details on rate plans, but they’re expected to be priced similar to the carrier’s current Canada-wide talk, text and data offerings, which start at $40 per month.

Update: As stated above, Eastlink has confirmed it will be using its 700 MHz spectrum that it purchased in 2014, stating “We are in fact rolling out service using our 700 MHz spectrum along with AWS and are excited to begin offering service in Northern Ontario.”