TELUS expanding fibre optic Internet access, increasing wireless speeds and extending coverage, helping deliver better healthcare outcomes, offering market-leading Internet of Things solutions, and enhancing TELUS’ Future Friendly Home solutions

Calgary, AB – TELUS will invest $212 million in new infrastructure and facilities in Calgary and area this year to enhance wireless capacity and speed, connect homes and businesses directly to its fibre optic network, pilot TELUS Health programs, and continue construction of TELUS Sky.

This significant investment is part of TELUS’ commitment to invest $4.2 billion in new infrastructure and facilities across Alberta through 2018, including $1 billion this year alone. When combined with operational expenses, this will bring TELUS’ total investment in Alberta over the next four years to more than $11 billion. This significant investment will result in TELUS having invested more than $45 billion in Alberta since 2000 to further extend advanced telecommunications infrastructure and healthcare services, ensuring sustained innovation and fueling economic growth.

“Calgary is already one of the most connected communities in the world today, and our investment this year will take that to yet another level, supporting our high-tech economy and healthcare services while offering ever-faster Internet data speeds, whether wired, Wi-Fi, or wireless,” said Andrea Goertz, TELUS Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer. “This year we will connect more Calgary homes and business directly to our fibre optic network to dramatically increase their Internet speeds, further expand our Wi-Fi network providing complimentary access in busy buildings and facilities, and enhance wireless capacity.

In Calgary this year and beyond TELUS will:

Services 

• Invest in continuing response to the Alberta floods, thereby protecting customer services in disaster prone areas by upgrading and strategically relocating infrastructure to mitigate risk to TELUS’ network, in addition to implementing new monitoring and preparedness plans for climate related events that could impact customer service, network and team members;
• Upgrade every wireless site to 4G LTE, enhancing the already exceptional speed, coverage and reliability experienced by TELUS customers;
• Connect more homes and businesses directly to TELUS’ fibre optic network, dramatically enhancing Internet speeds up to 100 Mbps and enabling organizations to significantly improve how they deliver services such as healthcare and education;
• Commence planning for how to best leverage TELUS’ newly-purchased AWS-3 spectrum to add much needed wireless capacity;
• Continue to rapidly deploy 700 MHz spectrum to further increase wireless capacity;
• Enhance TELUS’ Future Friendly Home solutions by adding new content; offering a new theme pack structure to deliver the most customer-friendly basic and specialty TV packages of any TV distributor; and offering enhanced security, data storage and email services.

Health

• Further grow the important role of TELUS Health, which currently provides electronic medical records to more than 14,000 Canadian physicians as well as health benefits management solutions to more than 9,000 pharmacies, 11,000 dental clinics and 25,000 extended healthcare providers across the country. TELUS Health has invested more than $1.5 billion to bring patient-centric solutions to market that are improving the flow of information across the healthcare continuum and enabling better health outcomes for Albertans and all Canadians;
• Enable physicians in pilot communities to connect with their patients through video conferencing in order to deliver an enhanced patient experience with reduced wait times and less travel.

Business

• Meet the growing technology requirements of Alberta’s resource sector in Calgary and throughout the entire province;
• Invest heavily in core areas of network, security, cloud computing and Internet-connected devices to facilitate Internet of Things (IoT) growth in Alberta, driving solutions that enable the oil and gas sector to further its global competitive advantage, reduce environmental impact, and increase worker safety;
• Continue construction on the environmentally and technologically-advanced LEED Platinum TELUS Sky office tower in downtown Calgary, which will create approximately 250 jobs for Calgarians as the development moves towards completion, anticipated in the fall of 2017;
• Elevate the capacity and efficiency of TELUS Calgary Internet Data Centre to meet the growing demands of new and existing customers.

Community

• Expand the reach of TELUS WISE, a free educational program available to all Canadians focused on Internet and smartphone safety and security to help keep families safer online. Since its launch in 2013, this program has reached more than 125,000 Albertans through more than 200 community learning sessions;
• Partner with local organizations on social initiatives through TELUS Community Boards and employee charitable giving, providing an expected $5 million in funds in 2015 alone. In 2014, the Alberta TELUS Community Boards donated $1 million in support of 71 local charitable projects. Since inception, the Alberta TELUS Community Boards have donated more than $10.7 million in support of 703 local charitable projects;
• Last year, nearly 3,000 Alberta TELUS team members, retirees and family members participated in the ninth annual TELUS Days of Giving, volunteering their time at hundreds of local activities nationwide; in 2015, TELUS anticipates more than 3,200 volunteers will participate in TELUS Days of Giving in Alberta.
• TELUS and its 14,000 team members, community board members and retirees who live and work in Alberta have been active with their hearts and hands across the province, donating more than $109 million and working nearly 1.7 million volunteer hours with charitable organizations since 2000.

“TELUS’ dedication to Calgary and Alberta extends well beyond our investments in operations and infrastructure,” added Goertz. “We are also committed to the community and to the arts in Calgary. Our new head office in Calgary, TELUS Sky, will offer Calgarians a dynamic blend of urban living and working and will feature 5,500 square feet of space dedicated to local arts to support the city’s commitment to the arts in downtown Calgary.”

The capital investment disclosed in this release is consistent with TELUS’ overall capital expenditure guidance for 2015, issued on February 12, 2015.

Media contact:
Luiza Staniec
TELUS Media Relations
(514) 665-3413
Luiza.staniec@telus.com