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MONCTON - EastLink's entry into the wireless market in New Brunswick could do more than shake up the cellphone business in the province.

Emerging technologies may also allow EastLink, which is owned by Nova Scotia's Bragg Communications Inc., to one day offer high-speed Internet as well as video services using its wireless network, says co-chief executive Lee Bragg.

"If we do build a wireless network we'll build with the latest technology that is available and some of the latest generation wireless technologies do have quite a bit of capacity to them and maybe that will allow us to do more than just a cellular voice product," said Bragg.

"These are just possibilities...but whatever the network will let us do we're certainly going to try and leverage that investment and get as many customers as we can."

EastLink has a history of innovation.

The Halifax-based firm was the first cable company in the country to offer home telephone service in 1999 and was the first to offer 10 megabit-per-second high-speed Internet service in Atlantic Canada in 2005.

EastLink is still working out its wireless network plans in the wake of Industry Canada's wireless auction. The company spent $25 million on 10-year wireless spectrum licences,

"It's not easy to build a network, you've got to do site acquisition and put towers up or try to negotiate access on the incumbents' towers," said Bragg. "Where we can get the network up easiest might be where we launch first, so we've got to go through those discussions with the incumbents on getting access to towers and all that stuff."

Bragg said his firm decided to get into the wireless business to plug a gap in its product offerings.

"We've gone to great lengths over the last few years to improve our video offering with high-definition and digital set-top boxes and PVRs and also high-speed Internet and local telephone service but we were missing a local wireless product."

The wireless auction offered EastLink a chance to expand its presence in New Brunswick, he said.

"We've got some spectrum and now we've just got to figure out at what point we launch service and what that service looks like."