Fort St. John, B.C. – TELUS is investing $18 million to connect more than 90 per cent of homes and businesses in Fort St. John and the community of Charlie Lake directly to its fibre optic network. Planning is currently underway, and construction work will begin in the spring. TELUS anticipates connecting all homes and businesses before the end of 2016.
“Direct fibre connection unleashes infinite possibilities now and into the future,” said Tony Geheran, TELUS Executive Vice-President and President of Broadband Networks. “Along with enhancing the connectivity residents enjoy in their homes, this investment will dramatically enhance the speeds and capacity available to local businesses both small and large, enabling entrepreneurs and organizations to thrive locally while reaching global audiences through the growing digital economy.”
The gigabit-enabled TELUS fibre optic network is among the most advanced communications infrastructure available in the world today, enabling connected residents to immediately take advantage of dramatically faster Internet speeds of up to 150 megabits per second, while interested businesses, schools, healthcare providers, and institutions can access even more speed and capacity. As demand and Internet technologies evolve in the coming years TELUS will offer faster speeds and more capacity, sufficient for decades to come. This new fibre optic infrastructure will also be the backbone of TELUS’ wireless network, enabling even more wireless capacity and speed Local healthcare providers, educators and technology companies will be able to draw upon the technology to reimagine how they deliver existing services and develop entirely new solutions.
“TELUS’ investment in this fibre network ensures the essential high-speed service needed to compete in the 21st century digital economy is available to Fort St. John residents and businesses,” said Minister of Technology, Innovation and Citizens’ Services, Amrik Virk. “It aligns with our #BCTECH strategy and our commitment to bring high-speed Internet access to 100% of the province by 2021.”
“Increased connectivity can improve quality of life and economic opportunities in Fort St. John,” said Mayor Ackerman. ”This connection could enable the advancement of services in health and education technologies and will benefit our local businesses. We are very pleased with this investment in advanced communications infrastructure in our community.”
This investment is part of TELUS’ commitment to invest $4 billion throughout B.C. through 2018, at no cost to taxpayers. For more information, please visit telus.com/fortstjohn.
The capital investment disclosed in this release is consistent with TELUS’ overall capital expenditure guidance for 2016, issued on February 11.
Post a Comment