(back to main page)

Autotel

Autotel is poorly attested for a network, but from what I can gather, it was a VHF (primarily; ~152/158 MHz, 30W?) and UHF (less so, somewhere ~400/450?) mobile radio network, similar to IMTS, but with digital signalling. The service was limited to British Columbia (through BC Tel, later Telus) and intended for rural areas where the cost of running cells through forested areas was too severe. It launched in 1983. Glenayre and Spilsbury manufactured equipment. The service was discontinued in 2009.

Wikipedia mentions PALM as an acronym for it, but I haven't seen anything to source it. All the later cases post-Wikipedia article I suspect (I see it mentioned a lot in "0.5G" mobile services on papers) are cases of citogenesis.

This page aims to gather links and information about Autotel and connect the dots. If you have more information, please contact me.

General

Equipment

People

Regulatory decisions

In Canada, the telecom industry is highly regulated. The CRTC (regulary body) has preserved many of the notices from the 1990s, making it a valuable resource for pieceing together the Autotel mystery.

Infrastructure

Cellular 400

TODO. NWT's mobile arm, NMI offered this. Looks like an NMT-based ~450 MHz cellular network?

General

Regulatory