A joint venture company formed by Northern Telecom and The New Brunswick Telephone Co. will begin a trial next month in Moncton, n.b. of their interactive CallMall services.

The system, being run by newly formed New North Media, will allow participants to shop, do their banking, get access to catalogues, get a weather forecast and receive community messages via their telephones.

Through the same system, advertisers will have a direct channel into the home, and consumers will be able to select the type of advertising they want to receive.

Phone

The service is offered via a phone with an eight-character by 20-character display screen, on which ads will scroll by when the phone is not in use.

Consumers can directly contact advertisers through the system.

More than 50 companies are ready to begin marketing products on the service, including Canada Trust, Tele-Direct, The Body Shop and Catalogue Services International.

The service will be expanded to other parts of New Brunswick in the new year, and the new company hopes to market CallMall technology worldwide.