Northern Telecom Ltd announced yesterday that it will create nearly 1,000 new jobs in the UK with the construction of a ú48m new plant at its existing site in Paignton, Devon. The new 250,000 square-foot facility will be used to develop, produce and market new radio technology including the fixed radio access system that the company developed with the still shadowy telecommunications carrier Ionica S3 Ltd. The system connects telephones to the public switched network via a radio link passed from local base stations to transceivers attached to subscribers’ houses. Northern Telecom received a ú5m grant for the project from the UK Department of Trade & Industry. Ionica is now promising to launch its telephone service sometime this year; Telecom Finland is also planning to use the system.
