NewTel Communications was a telephone and internet service provider in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Originally known as the Avalon Telephone Company, it served the Avalon Peninsula and later became the Newfoundland Telephone Company and served several additional regions: southwestern

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

between Port-aux-Basques and

Corner Brook Corner Brook ( 2021 population: 19,316 CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrado ...

; part of the

Burin Peninsula The Burin Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula located on the south coast of the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Marystown is the largest population centre on the peninsula.Statistics Canada. 201 ...

; Windsor and Grand Falls; and most of

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

. This was as a result of the acquisition of four smaller companies and their phone services from 1948 to 1962. On 9 June 1979, it acquired the Labrador Telephone Company serving

Labrador City Labrador City is a town in western Labrador (part of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador), near the Quebec border. With a population of 7,412 as of 2021, it is the second-largest population cent ...

from the Iron Ore Company of Canada and, in late 1988, it acquired Terra Nova Tel from

Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

, adding other communities on the island including Gander. In 1985, NewTel Enterprises was formed as Newfoundland Telephone's parent company, allowing the group to diversify. NewTel Cellular (later NewTel Mobility) was formed as a sister company under the NewTel Enterprises umbrella offering

mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...

service. The fixed-line utility continued to operate under the Newfoundland Telephone name until 1996, when it became NewTel Communications. NewTel Enterprises merged with Bruncor (parent of NBTel), Island Telecom and MTT in 1999 to form Aliant, now known as

Bell Aliant Bell Aliant is a brand name used by Bell Canada for Telecommunications in Canada, telecommunications services in Atlantic Canada. Prior to 2015, Bell Aliant Inc. (formerly Aliant Inc.) was a separate company providing telecom services in the Atl ...

References

Bell Aliant Defunct companies of Newfoundland and Labrador Defunct telecommunications companies of Canada 1999 disestablishments in Canada {{Newfoundland-stub