Northern Telephone sees itself as economic driver.

More than a communications solutions provider, Northern Telephone (NT) takes its role as a gateway to economic development in northeastern Ontario very seriously, says Dave McGirr, vicepresident of marketing and customer service at the Timmins-based company.

NT serves more than 66,000 residential and business customers across an 83,000-square-kilometre area from the town of Latchford in the south, northwest through the Highway 11 corridor including Kirkland Lake, Timmins, and Kapuskasing and just west of Calstock.

NT provides local access service, cellular telephone, paging and mobile satellite solutions through its subsidiary, NorTel Mobility to northeastern Ontario.

The company recently completed the installation of an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) system that allows business customers access to a variety of products ranging from high-speed Internet to bandwidth intensive imaging solutions.

NT has an office dedicated to the specific needs of small and medium-sized business customers.

Service includes a network surveillance and maintenance centre that can answer repair calls seven day a week, 24 hours a day.

The newly established technology advances are beginning to take hold, McGirr says.

"We've gone from being behind to being ahead, technologically. You are not going to find the same level of deployment in too many other areas," he says. McGirr sees NT playing a very significant role in local economic development.

"Our view is that NT can play a strategic role in helping the economic development of our northern communities," he says.

With telecommunications becoming an essential element of business, McGirr says service providers offer economic power to entire communities.

"Telecommunications is a strategic weapon. It can be a leverage for the growth of the community," he says.

As part of its continued commitment to its service region, McGirr says NT continues to develop course material and resources with post-secondary education providers in the northeast including Northern College, so that technology-based positions can be filled with local persons whenever possible.

NT is a subsidiary of Bell Canada and maintains strategic alliances with BCE 

Inc., NorTel Mobility, Sympatico, Newbridge, Mitel, Cisco, Nortel, Adcorn and Ericsson.

The company employs more than 250 in northeastern Ontario.