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ecodmistaav sleiiffinekuiy se3099 5 communication bell expands local calling borders in thornhill markham stouffviue some areas get break on long distance calls by patrick casey joan ransberry staff writers york region residents caught a break tuesday when bell canada announced changes to its local calling area through out greater toronto monthly long distance charges will soon fall for residents in woodbridge kleinburg thornhill markham richmond hill stouffviue and aurora after bell completes an investment of 31 million in the toronto area to enable customers to make local calls to more places more than 50 communities in the gta will benefit from the elimination of long distance telephone charges the move is part of bells 200-mil- liori total investment to improve local service throughout ontario and quebec by 2000 with the upgrades expanding local calling areas for 68 million cus tomers in 642 different exchanges the changes take effect oct 22 its a great day for business across the gta said helene johnson president of the whitchurchstouffville chamber of commerce the less you have to pay for tele phone service the more you can put into business development officials of the yorkdurham heritage railway are cheering the tourist train has an uxbridge telephone number and consequently it was often a long distance call to get information the less you have to pay for telephone service the more you can put into business development now that long distance charges haye been eliminated for uxbridge it will enable the railway to attract more business especially from toronto said johnson being able to call uxbridge toll free is a plus for everyone its about time johnson added it was ridiculous stouffville could call toronto free of charge but not uxbridge this puts things in the proper perspec tive with this in place i can call my uxbridge grandchildren without being charged said johnson according to bell canada spokesper son don hogarth the changes are a direct response from communities telling bell that improved telecommuni cations will help attract new businesses to their areas this is something that customers like in the 905 area around toronto we know from talking with people where their long distance calls are and where their local calls are said hogarth yester day this initiative was announced at the end of 1997 and we have been rolling it out since then this is not a response to the current competitive situation although we are as keen as possible to offer the best solutions for our cus tomers its all part of the equation some of the area changes where resi dents and businesses will be able to call each other without a long distance charge include woodbridge to beeton tottenham and schomberg kleinburg to beeton schomberg and tottenham aurora to richmond hill and thornhill thornhill to aurora richmond hu1 to aurora markham to uxbridge stouffville to uxbridge bell is also working to make single- line service available to people current- almost 45000 customers in ontario telecommunications commission will ly on fourparty service the singleline and quebec still have fourparty line also leave 99 per cent of bells customers service allows access to 911 internet service with tollfree access to at least one service providers fax machines and the changes approved by the internet service provider by the end of modems canadian radiotelevision and the year the arthritis richmond hill 5085177 richmond hill 5085177 unionville motors pontlagbuickgmc 4630 hwy 7 unionville at kennedy rdj 9054771666 markham dodge chrysler jeep 5426hwyj7east between mccowan markham rd 9054711500 o l o w o i l the little dealership with a big v 5336 highway 7 just east of mccowan 2941440 toll free 18008922209 wwwnorthpointechevoldscom