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JULY 7, 2021

TELUS investing $61 million in Prince George this year

Prince George, B.C. – TELUS is investing $61 million in Prince George 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 Prince George, include:

  • Bringing our blistering-fast 5G network speeds to Prince George 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, utilizing our current spectrum holdings. 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 Prince George.

  • 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 Prince George in 2019, 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 Prince George 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.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us many things, but one thing that has been brought into a really sharp perspective is the importance of connectivity to the health of our communities and our ability to navigate through crises,” said Mayor of Prince George, Lyn Hall. “Here in Prince George and particularly our surrounding region, equitable access to reliable broadband has long been a challenge. This investment by TELUS in our community will help citizens to access healthcare virtually, attend classes remotely, and take part in flexible work options. Having the ability to make these choices is so valuable and will help to strengthen our community and our region.”

TELUS and our local team members have long been committed to Prince George. We donated more than $1.5 million to local charities in Prince George, and throughout the challenging year in 2020, TELUS provided Optik TV, High Speed Internet, SmartHome Security, and home phone services to Prince George Hospice supporting the growing demand for hospices due to Covid-19. Since 2000, TELUS and our team have contributed more than $1.7 million and volunteered over 300,000 hours of service in support of charities and community organizations in Prince George.

“Covid has made all of us all reflect on how much our community partners are integral to our success,” says Donna Flood, Executive Director of Prince George Hospice Society. “TELUS has stood alongside us in support of our community, which has allowed us to adjust and react to the new demands. The Prince George Hospice Society has seen an increase in requests for our support and we can only meet these needs through the support of our community leaders such as TELUS.”

To support Prince George 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 employers, TELUS kept our 8,000 British Columbian team members employed through Covid-19, including nearly 400 local team members right here in Prince George.

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.

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:

Liz Sauvé
TELUS Public Relations
[email protected]