Transportation and Works
Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
February 7, 2011

Emergency Satellite Phone Service Extended Along Trans Labrador Highway

An investment of $19,875 means 15 new satellite phones are now available to users of the Trans Labrador Highway (TLH), bringing to 80 the total number of phones available to travellers in the emergency satellite phone program.

“By extending the satellite phone program, we are offering peace of mind and making the drive a little safer for motorists as they travel the Trans Labrador Highway,” said the Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Transportation and Works. “There are more people using the highway and extending the program ensures that more phones will be available for travellers who wish to use the service.”

The addition of 15 phones to the program will provide a permanent extension of the service into southern Labrador, with phones available to the public at the Riverlodge Hotel in Mary’s Harbour and the Northern Light Inn in L’Anse au Clair.

“Extending the satellite phone program to serve a broader area will provide real lifelines for people who use the Trans Labrador Highway every day,” said the Honourable John Hickey, Minister of Labrador Affairs. “Now satellite phones will be available from one end of the highway to the other, providing a continuous umbrella of safety for travellers along this route.”

The phones are available free of charge to motorists travelling remote sections of the TLH. When borrowing a phone, residents of the province simply need to provide their driver licence number and non-residents need to provide a valid credit card number for tracking and security purposes.

When users are finished with the phones, they can simply drop them off at any participating location, noted below:

• Wabush Hotel in Wabush;
• Midway Travel Inn in Churchill Falls;
• Hotel North Two, Royal Inn and Suites in Happy Valley-Goose Bay;
• Cartwright Hotel in Cartwright;
• Alexis Hotel in Port Hope Simpson;
• Town Hall in Charlottetown;
• Riverlodge Hotel in Mary’s Harbour; and,
• Northern Light Inn in L’Anse au Clair.

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2011 02 07                                                      11:20 a.m.