Northwestel curtails expansion plans after CRTC decision Company was to get $40 million for improvements under proposed BCE deal

Northwestel is scaling back plans to expand its services in the North after the CRTC denied an application by its parent company Bell Canada Enterprises to buy Astral Media's radio and television services.

Under the plan, all communities in the three territories would have had access to new services, including high-speed internet access and 3G or 4G wireless, Northwestel had said. Flaherty added the company will still spend $233 million on expansion and upgrades by 2017.