Strategic investments benefiting Canadians

Growing for success

TELUS has made significant investments in recent years to benefit Canadians by extending the speed, reach and capabilities of our advanced wireless and wireline broadband networks. This included the build-out, launch and subsequent upgrade of our nationwide next generation high speed packet access plus (HSPA+) wireless network capable of supporting manufacturer-rated peak wireless data download speeds of up to 21 megabits per second. It also included enhancements to our wireline broadband network, which significantly expanded the performance and customer reach of our high-speed Internet and our IP-based TV services.

In 2011, TELUS capital expenditures were $1.85 billion, or 18 per cent of operating revenues. This included upgrading three-quarters of our HSPA+ network with HSPA+ dual-cell technology which doubled manufacturer-rated wireless data download speeds to up to 42 megabits per second. The investment in HSPA+ infrastructure, including cell-sites backhaul over fibre, and software-upgradeable radio networks, facilitated the upgrade to LTE technology. In 2011, we began upgrading our network with LTE to further increase network capacity and speed, and launched LTE services commercially in major urban markets in February 2012. We plan to expand LTE coverage to even more cities and towns across Canada in 2012.

In addition to high-speed wireless network enhancements, TELUS expanded its combined ADSL2+ and VDSL2 high-speed Internet coverage to 2.3 million households in British Columbia, Alberta and Eastern Quebec by early 2012. These investments support innovative IP-delivered services such as our premium differentiated Optik TV™ and Optik Internet™. Since 2000, TELUS has made capital investments of close to $22 billion in technology benefiting Canadians.

TELUS announced that it plans to invest approximately $3 billion in the province of British Columbia and $2 billion in Alberta from 2012 to 2014, which illustrates TELUS’ commitment to Canada on a regional basis. In B.C., this investment is expected to include: bringing the world’s fastest wireless service to four million people in the province, bridging the digital divide, building one of the world’s greenest data centres in Kamloops and starting construction on B.C.’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum office tower.  Specific examples just in the province of B.C. include:

• TELUS’ new 4G LTE wireless network will be extended from Vancouver to more than four million British Columbians in 20 communities in 2012 – close to 90 per cent of the province’s population
• TELUS will invest $350 million so that 97 per cent of all British Columbians have access to high-speed Internet. That investment will see fibre optic cable installed to connect 450 schools, providing our students and teachers with a global technology advantage. Up to 119 communities will benefit from faster Internet speeds and importantly, we will extend wireless coverage along 1,700 kilometres of remote highways to enhance communication and safety for British Columbians
• We plan to connect 35 remote and geographically challenging B.C. communities to broadband Internet this year, such as Manning Park, Cluculz Lake, Kitwanga and Pender Harbour
• Through our partnership with the All Nations Trust Company, we plan to connect 50 First Nations communities to high-speed Internet over the next three years. This is supporting First Nations communities such as the Doig River First Nation.

Capital expenditures in 2012 are expected to be similar to 2011 at approximately $1.85 billion as TELUS expects to continue its wireless capacity upgrades and ongoing deployment of the new LTE wireless network in urban areas. The rural deployment of LTE is dependent on acquiring 700 MHz spectrum in upcoming spectrum auctions expected in the first half of 2013. Although wireline capital expenditures are expected to decline, TELUS intends to continue to invest in broadband infrastructure expansion and upgrades supporting Optik TV™ and Internet services in B.C. and Eastern Quebec, including the completion of the overlay of VDSL2 technology.

While spending almost $1.3 billion B.C. and Alberta in 2012, TELUS is also spending more than $500 million in Ontario and Quebec. Included in this capital spending are two new intelligent Internet Data Centres in Rimouski Quebec and Kamloops B.C., which are being built to LEED Gold standards. They will be a cornerstone of TELUS’ ongoing support of secure cloud-based services for Canadian consumers and businesses.