38
39
CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - FEB/MAR 2013
I
N JANUARY OF
2013,
North-
westel submitted its detailed
modernization plan for its cross-north-
ern telecommunications services.The
company called the plan “the most
ambitious expansion of communica-
tions technology ever undertaken in
Northern Canada” and said it was the
largest investment in infrastructure it
has ever made.
An investment of $233 million
over five years, the expansion will al-
low northern
Canadians ac-
cess to advanced
wireless and In-
ternet networks,
and illustrate
the commitment
that Northwestel
has to its north-
ern customers.
The mod-
ernization announcement is one com-
ponent of an ongoing strategy for
Northwestel to continue connecting
northern customers at a level in line
with what is available to the rest of the
country.
CIO had the opportunity to speak
with Lee Vincent, AVP of Human Re-
sources, to discuss the current goals of
Northwestel, recruiting, and how the
company intends to move to the “next
level” of service and commitment to
their communities.
5
QUESTIONS WITH LEE VINCENT
CIO:
Can you give us a sense of
where Northwestel has seen the most
growth in the last five years?
Lee Vincent:
Being in the telecom-
munications space has been good for
Northwestel in the last five years. You
can look at growth in the traditional
financial growth perspective, and yes,
we have grown in revenues over the
last five years. But you also need to
look at our ser-
vices and offer-
ings, and that’s
where there’s
been exponen-
tial growth for
Northwestel.
Five years
ago in the north,
we were just
launching cell
service in 17 communities across the
Yukon – places that never had cell
service before. Today we now have
cell coverage in close to 30 communi-
ties across Northern Canada, which
is really helping to keep northerners
connected. We have also expanded in
terms of breadth of the Internet and as-
sociated services that northerners can
access.
CIO:
How much of that growth
is attributable to a growing infrastruc-
ture?
“
The key thing to understand
is that in the north, customers
want the same things, the same
services that are available to
people in southern Canada.”
