Newtel spends $40 million to upgrade in rural areas
NewTel Communications is investing $40 million to upgrade technology in 310 Newfoundland communities. The company's network engineering and operations team will provide 112 of the firm's exchanges with digital systems connected to NewTel's fibre optic network. NewTel plans to upgrade 71 exchanges serving 228 communities this year, with another 41 upgrades in 82 communities being performed next year. The telco expects the improvements will increase network capacity, eliminate network congestion, and allow the provision of new services, including local dial access to the Internet. The new program, called Network 2000, is part of an ongoing project by NewTel, a subsidiary of Aliant. Last year NewTel invested $6.5 million in its modernization plan, upgrading the network in 19 locations. The telco has also been active in Labrador, implementing the first part of a $20 million digital telecom network link last year.

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