Some telecommunications users across the North may be affected by brief service disruptions late this month and early next month, due to sun transit.

Sun transit is a natural phenomenon that occurs twice a year, when the sun crosses the earth’s equatorial plane during the spring and fall equinoxes. This year’s spring equinox disruptions are expected to occur in the North between February 21^st and March 7^th.

During that period, remote communities that receive their telecommunications services by satellite may experience short periods of signal interference due to sun transit.

“The disruptions will be very short, between one and fifteen minutes in duration,” said Anne Kennedy, Northwestel Director Communications. “Depending on your location, the disruptions will occur in the middle part of the day, between approximately 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. There will be only one disruption per day, and because the disruptions are often so short, many people don’t even notice them.”

If people do have trouble when trying to place long distance calls, or with data or Internet transmissions, it is recommended that they try again after a few minutes, when the disruption is likely to be over. Local telephone service is not affected.

During sun transit periods, the sun aligns directly behind satellites for a few minutes each day. When a satellite is directly between the sun and a receiving satellite dish on earth, the enormous natural radio frequency noise from the sun can overpower the desired signal from the satellite. This results in a brief service disruption. The disruption may take the form of noise, fading, or interruptions to any long distance, data and television services whose signals are carried via satellite.

The exact time of the sun transit disruption depends on the location of the satellite being affected and of the earth station receiving the signals.

For more information on the effect of sun transit on satellite transmissions, check Telesat’s website at http://www.telesat.ca/satellites/sun-transit-preditcs.htm.

Northwestel provides complete telecommunications solutions in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon, northern British Columbia and High Level, Alberta. The company’s operations span nearly 4 million square kilometres of the most remote and rugged areas of Canada.