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JULY 21, 2021

TELUS investing $47 million to bring 5G to Surrey this year

Surrey, B.C. – TELUS is investing $47 million in Surrey this year as part of our $13 billion investment in infrastructure and operations across British Columbia through 2024 to further support the province throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recovery. These investments will create important and tangible social outcomes while many British Columbians continue to work, learn, access healthcare, and socialize from home during these unprecedented times. TELUS’ significant investments in Surrey, include:

  • Bringing our blistering-fast 5G network speeds to Surrey utilizing our current spectrum holdings, enabling residents and businesses to access the fastest 5G network in Canada, providing speeds up to 1.7 Gbps. TELUS will have connected 187 communities as well as 119 First Nations communities and 335 Indigenous lands across the province to 5G by the end of this year. The broad deployment of 5G across our province will contribute to improved health and educational outcomes for British Columbians, supporting environmental sustainability, enabling our entrepreneurial spirit, and unleashing human productivity. It is estimated that 5G will create 250,000 jobs and contribute $150 billion to Canada’s economy over the next 20 years.

  • Building new wireless infrastructure in response to the increasing demand for enhanced wireless connectivity throughout the city, ensuring TELUS wireless networks continue to meet and exceed the demands for reliable and fast connectivity in Surrey. 

  • Connecting more households and businesses to the gigabit-enabled TELUS PureFibre network, Western Canada’s largest fibre-to-the-premise network that supported more than 3.5 million British Columbians as they adapted to new ways of living throughout the pandemic. TELUS PureFibre first came to Surrey in 2017, and was ready to withstand the additional demands of Covid-19, particularly as the symmetrical upload and download Internet speeds enable residents to work with large files at home while other family members can simultaneously be learning, streaming entertainment, or video chatting with friends. 

“TELUS is proud to make this generational investment in Surrey, providing the technology to connect citizens to loved ones, as well as vital resources and information as we continue to navigate the global pandemic,” said Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of TELUS. “Now more than ever, TELUS is committed to keeping our citizens and communities connected and productive through our globally leading wireless network, underpinned by our award winning TELUS PureFibre infrastructure that provides the backbone for our 5G-enabled world. Indeed, across British Columbia, the ongoing expansion of our broadband networks, ubiquitously deployed, are bridging time and distance, allowing residents to live and work in any community without compromising productivity or economic opportunity. As we look ahead with optimism to a period of social and economic recovery, our investments are enabling more British Columbians with world-best connectivity to work, learn, socialize, access entertainment and transact safely and effectively from their homes.”

TELUS is also supporting small businesses through its second national #StandWithOwners initiative, investing $1 million to promote these vitally important organizations in 2021. Small business owners have demonstrated incredible strength and ingenuity as they pivoted and innovated throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and TELUS is proudly supporting them with funding, localized advertising, and mentorship as they move forward. To apply, businesses can visit telus.com/standwithowners.

“Fast growing cities like Surrey are built on community connection, innovation, and technology, that is why expanding our TELUS 5G Network is so important,” said Doug McCallum, Mayor of Surrey. “This investment will ensure our residents have greater access to online education, remote work, and of course, each other. Our businesses will be more productive and be better supported to further innovate and advance on a global scale. This is a welcome investment in Surrey that will ensure our community stays connected during the pandemic, and beyond.”

TELUS and our local team members have long been committed to Surrey, and throughout the challenging last year our donations included providing medical equipment to the Surrey Hospitals Foundation to help support the treatment of Covid-19 patients. Since 2000, TELUS, our team members and retirees contributed more than $3 million and volunteered more than 280,000 hours in support of charities and community organizations located in Surrey.

“Surrey Memorial Hospital was at the epicentre of the pandemic in B.C.,” said Jane Adams, President and CEO, Surrey Hospitals Foundation. “We have treated more COVID-19 patients than any other hospital in the province, and continue to do so. With TELUS’ support, Surrey Hospitals Foundation has been able to invest in lifesaving equipment, research to improve long-term rehabilitation for critically ill patients, and important frontline staff wellness initiatives.”

To support Surrey throughout the last year, TELUS’ networks helped residents and businesses as we all adapted to new ways of living. As the province’s leading private sector employer, TELUS kept 8,000 British Columbian team members employed through COVID, including more than 400 local team members right here in Surrey. 

These investments build upon TELUS’ continued commitment to bring world-class connectivity to communities across the province, providing the technological backbone for our economic recovery and strength well into the future. Since 2000, TELUS has invested nearly $240 billion nationally in network infrastructure, operations and spectrum, including more than $53 billion in technology and operations in B.C. 

The investments announced in this media release are consistent with TELUS’ capital expenditure guidance for 2021, released in the fourth quarter of 2020 earnings release dated February 11, 2021.

For more information about our investment in Metro Vancouver including Surrey, please view this video.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements about future events and plans that are forward-looking, including relating to TELUS’ infrastructure investment plans. By their nature, forward-looking statements require TELUS to make assumptions and predictions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a number of factors (such as regulatory decisions and developments, the competitive environment in which we operate, our operating and financial results and our ability to carry out financing activities) could cause actual capital and operating expenditures to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.

Accordingly, this news release and the forward-looking statements made in it are subject to the cautionary note and qualified by the assumptions, qualifications and risk factors referred to in TELUS’ 2018 and first quarter 2019 Management’s discussion and analysis, which are incorporated by reference herein, and in other TELUS public disclosure documents and filings with securities commissions in Canada (on SEDAR at sedar.com) and in the United States (on EDGAR at sec.gov). Forward-looking statement describe TELUS’ expectations and are based on our assumptions as at the date of this press release and are subject to change. Except as required by law, TELUS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements.

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a dynamic, world-leading communications technology company with $16 billion in annual revenue and 16 million customer connections spanning wireless, data, IP, voice, television, entertainment, video, and security. We leverage our global-leading technology and compassion to enable remarkable human outcomes. Our longstanding commitment to putting our customers first fuels every aspect of our business, making us a distinct leader in customer service excellence and loyalty. In 2020, TELUS was recognized as having the fastest wireless network in the world, reinforcing our commitment to provide Canadians with access to superior technology that connects us to the people, resources and information that make our lives better. TELUS Health is Canada’s leader in digital health technology, improving access to health and wellness services and revolutionizing the flow of health information across the continuum of care. TELUS Agriculture provides innovative digital solutions throughout the agriculture value chain, supporting better food outcomes from improved agri-business data insights and processes. TELUS International (TSX and NYSE: TIXT) is a leading digital customer experience innovator that delivers next-generation AI and content management solutions for global brands across the technology and games, ecommerce and FinTech, communications and media, healthcare, travel and hospitality sectors. TELUS and TELUS International operate in 25+ countries around the world. Together, let’s make the future friendly.

Driven by our passionate social purpose to connect all citizens for good, our deeply meaningful and enduring philosophy to give where we live has inspired TELUS, our team members and retirees to contribute more than $820 million and 1.6 million days of service since 2000. This unprecedented generosity and unparalleled volunteerism have made TELUS the most giving company in the world.

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com, follow us @TELUSNews on Twitter and @Darren_Entwistle on Instagram.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Lena Chen
TELUS Public Relations
[email protected]