Significant investment across the province will increase wireless speeds, extend TELUS' fibre optic Internet network to even more homes and businesses, and help deliver better healthcare

/EINPresswire.com/ -- MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 03/21/16 -- (TSX: T)(NYSE: TU) - TELUS intends to invest $2 billion in new communications infrastructure across Quebec through 2020. This year alone, TELUS will invest $340 million in the province to extend fibre optic infrastructure directly to thousands of homes and businesses in rural and urban communities, further strengthen wireless service, and support key services including healthcare with new technologies.

"By the end of 2020 TELUS will have invested more than $27 billion in Quebec since 2000," said Francois Gratton, Executive Vice-President and President, Business Solutions East and TELUS Quebec. "This sustained commitment attests to our confidence in Quebec's future, and our determination to support that future and the competitiveness of our economy through investment that directly helps companies become more productive, supports better healthcare through technology, extends fibre optic infrastructure in communities across eastern Quebec, provides Quebecers with unmatched entertainment and Internet services, and connects us wirelessly faster and more securely than ever before."

TELUS' infrastructure and technology investments will advance services for the benefit of all Quebecers, in 2016 and beyond, including:

Services

--  Wireless network - TELUS will continue building new wireless sites to
    add capacity and extend the reach of its wireless network in rural
    areas, while extending 4G LTE and LTE-advanced - the world's fastest and
    most advanced wireless technology - across TELUS' network, even into
    Montreal's metro. This investment will dramatically increase data speeds
    to satisfy customer demand for downloads and video streaming.
--  Fibre optic network - This year alone, TELUS will connect thousands of
    homes in Chaudiere-Appalaches, Cote-Nord, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspesie
    to TELUS' fibre optic network, the fastest and most reliable wireline
    technology available in the world today. Families and businesses alike
    will benefit from the next generation of Internet and TV services over
    this gigabit-enabled network in the coming years, as demand continues to
    increase. In addition, in collaboration with the Federal Government's
    Connecting Canadians program, TELUS will connect close to 10,000 homes
    in rural Quebec communities such as Lac-au-Saumon, Saint-Leonard and
    Saint-Anaclet-de-Lessard directly to fibre optic communications
    infrastructure by 2017.
--  Optik TV - TELUS will continue to roll out Optik TV as well as invest in
    enhancing its service while adding new content through television apps
    like Netflix and Tou.tv.

Business

--  Fibre optics - TELUS will continue to connect businesses and industrial
    parks directly to its fibre optic network to further stimulate economic
    growth and help organizations improve the ways in which they deliver
    their services. In the last 10 years, TELUS has deployed countless
    kilometres of fibre optic cable across the province to connect thousands
    of businesses in Eastern Quebec, the North Shore, Saguenay, Quebec City,
    Montreal, and Trois-Rivieres, dramatically increasing their available
    Internet speeds and capacity.
--  Internet of Things - TELUS will continue its sustained investment in and
    research of Internet-connected devices to promote the growth of the
    Internet of Things (IoT) in Quebec, driving solutions that will enable
    all sectors to further their global competitive advantage, reduce their
    environmental impact and increase worker safety.
--  Security - TELUS will continue to invest in areas like advanced
    analytics, cloud-based security services and integrated security
    solutions to help Quebec businesses maintain strong security against a
    rapidly-growing number of online threats.
--  Data centre and Cloud services - TELUS will expand the capacity of its
    advanced Internet data centre in Rimouski to meet the growing needs of
    its current and future clients in Quebec and across Canada. Combined
    with TELUS' expanded cloud portfolio, Quebec businesses now have access
    to a full suite of managed Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solutions
    that includes public and private cloud options, as well as Canada's
    first hybrid cloud offering built on the Industry-leading Cisco Cloud
    Architecture for the Microsoft Cloud Platform.

Health

--  TELUS Health - TELUS will continue investing in TELUS Health, which
    currently provides electronic medical records to approximately 15,000
    Canadian physicians as well as health benefits management solutions to
    more than 10,000 pharmacies, 11,000 dental clinics and 33,000 extended
    health care providers across the country. TELUS Health has invested more
    than $1.6 billion to bring patient-centred solutions to market which are
    improving the flow of information across the health care continuum and
    enabling better health outcomes for Quebecers and all Canadians.

Community

--  Support for grassroots organizations: In 2016, TELUS, its current and
    retired team members and its Community Boards in Quebec will donate $4.5
    million to hundreds of local organizations.
--  TELUS Days of Giving: Each year, more than 2,500 TELUS Quebec team
    members take part in TELUS Days of Giving, rolling up their sleeves to
    help dozens of local organizations including Operation Enfant Soleil,
    The Lighthouse Children and Families, and the Association du cancer de
    l'Est du Quebec.

TELUS, which has approximately 6,000 team members in Quebec, has also contributed $2 billion in payroll, property taxes and other taxes in Quebec since 2000, supporting services for residents across the province. Combined with the salaries paid and goods and services purchased in the province, TELUS' total operating investment in Quebec since 2000 has been $12 billion.

The investments announced in this media release were reflected in TELUS' capital expenditure guidance for 2016, which was issued on February 12, 2016.

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T)(NYSE: TU) is Canada's fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $12.5 billion of annual revenue and 12.5 million customer connections, including 8.5 million wireless subscribers, 1.5 million residential network access lines, 1.6 million high-speed Internet subscribers and 1.0 million TELUS TV customers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video, and is Canada's largest healthcare IT provider.

For more information about TELUS, please visit www.telus.com.

TELUS in Quebec:

TELUS is planning to invest $2 billion in new infrastructure and facilities across the province of Quebec over the next five years. By the end of 2020 TELUS expects to have invested more than $27 billion in the province since 2000 to extend the reach of advanced wireless and wireline telecommunications infrastructure throughout the province. As part of that commitment, TELUS has connected homes, businesses, schools and healthcare institutions in multiple urban and rural communities directly to TELUS' fibre network in order to support sustained innovation and fuel the province's economic growth.

In support of the company's philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, team members and retirees have contributed more than $54 million and 540,000 volunteer hours to charitable and community organizations throughout Quebec since 2000. Created in 2005 by President and CEO Darren Entwistle, TELUS has 15 local community boards dedicated to supporting local projects. Since inception, the three Community Boards in QC have donated more than $12.4 million in support of thousands of local charitable projects with such organizations as L'Ancre des jeunes, Motivaction Jeunesse and Fondation du CRBM.

In September 2012, TELUS opened its state of the art Intelligent Data Centre located in Rimouski, Quebec. TELUS built the centre in Rimouski due to the community's skilled workforce, cool climate and abundant green hydroelectricity. Considered as one of the most technologically advanced and energy efficient Internet data centres in the world, the TELUS Rimouski Data Centre received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for sustainable development in 2015.

Forward-looking statement:

This news release contains statements about expected future events, including TELUS' projected multi-year capital and operating expenditures that are forward-looking. The investments described for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 are subject to the ongoing review and approval of TELUS' Board of Directors. By their nature, forward-looking statements require the Company 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 and government decisions, the competitive environment, economic conditions, our ability to purchase spectrum licences through auctions or third parties, and our earnings, free cash flow and financial position) could cause actual capital and operating expenditures to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, this news release is subject to the disclaimer and qualified by the assumptions (including the assumptions for our 2016 annual guidance, semi-annual dividend increases through 2016, ability to sustain and complete our multi-year share purchase program through 2016), qualifications and risk factors referred to in the 2015 Management's Discussion and Analysis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, which are specifically 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). Except as required by law, TELUS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements.

Contacts:
Luiza Staniec
TELUS Media Relations
514-619-3600
Luiza.staniec@telus.com

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