Telus Plans FTTN

VANCOUVER -- TELUS today announced a $600 million investment to enhance its broadband network in British Columbia, Alberta and eastern Quebec by the end of 2009.

"TELUS' broadband build is an important investment in our future, and in the future of British Columbia, Alberta, and eastern Quebec," said Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO. "It enables TELUS to further unleash the power of the Internet for our customers, paving the way for exciting emerging services including high definition TELUS TV."

TELUS is installing advanced Internet equipment in more than 7,000 sites across its network and running fibre optic cable closer to customer homes. Bringing fibre closer to homes will drive Internet access speeds of 15 to 30 megabits per second and beyond. The upgrades began early this year, with TELUS making an investment of approximately $190 million in 2006. Today's announcement of a $600 million investment in 2007 to 2009 will see the upgrades rolled out in TELUS' top 38 communities in British Columbia, Alberta and eastern Quebec.

The project complements a rural capital investment program bringing high speed Internet services to more than 450 additional remote communities in British Columbia, Alberta, and eastern Quebec by 2010.

"Access to high speed Internet enriches the lives of rural Canadians by providing tremendous opportunities for economic development, education, health care, and other services. All Canadians benefit when more of our citizens have access to high speed Internet services and the knowledge-based economy," Entwistle said. "These projects will also benefit TELUS team members through the creation of new and exciting career opportunities. TELUS is already in its second year of a three-year hiring program for 800 new technicians to meet customer demand for TELUS TV in British Columbia and Alberta. Even more opportunities will be created as customer demand for emerging services continues to grow."

Telus Corp. (NYSE: TU; Toronto: T)