It garnered so much excitement at the time because it was the biggest employer to set up shop in the area since Bowater Mersey opened its doors 75 years earlier.

Lynn Ricci, a spokesman for the Massachusetts firm, said she cannot speculate on what the loss of this contract will mean for the close to 200 people who work in at the Liverpool centre or what options the company may consider. She suggested looking at a company news release for further information.

Employees learned Monday that T-Mobile, the world’s third-largest multinational mobile phone service provider, is cancelling its contract with Lightbridge. The news release says revenue from that contract amounted to $2.3 million for the first quarter of this year.

The company says the loss in revenue means Lightbridge must now review the "expense structure" of its call centre — which it calls a contact centre — "and the company will align those expenses with anticipated revenues."

Region of Queens Mayor John Leefe said this is disturbing news for the employees and the community, but since the contract won’t expire until the beginning of August, "there is some lag time here to provide the opportunity to seek an effective solution."

See the full story at The ChronicleHerald.ca