TELUS innovation takes on a major technical challe

RIMOUSKI, Quebec , May 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TELUS announced today that it will be enhancing its network service in the Lower North Shore. In partnership with the federal government’s Connect to Innovate program and the government of Quebec’s Société du Plan Nord , we will be building IP transport infrastructure and adding LTE cell towers in the Lower North Shore.

Our innovative solution will provide 1,750 households and around 100 businesses with high-speed internet access and cellular phone services offering renowned TELUS quality.

“TELUS is proud to be leading one of the biggest digital infrastructure projects north of the 49th parallel,” affirms François Gratton, Executive Vice-President, TELUS, and President, Business Solutions East and TELUS Québec. “Day after day, our teams are actively working to develop creative solutions and apply the best available technology in order to promote development in the regions of Quebec. By 2020, we’ll have invested over $300 million in bringing ultra-high-speed internet to all of eastern Quebec. The technical challenge of the Lower North Shore lies in leveraging a wireless solution to connect the region’s residents with the rest of the world. We’re creating a real bridge to the future. . . one that we’ll maintain for years to come.”

We are employing our creativity and innovation to take on the large-scale technical challenge of deploying the network along more than 400 km of coastline on the Lower North Shore. This solution will give 4,700 residents access to average navigation speeds of 25 and 75 Mbps, which is 40 times the region’s currently available bandwidth. The communities will be gaining access to both high-speed internet and mobile services.

“We are committed to offering our clients the best technology,” adds Jacques Garceau, TELUS Senior Vice-President, Broadband Networks Engineering. “By developing a mixed network combining optic fibre, microwave transmission and cell units, TELUS is bringing its technological expertise to the forefront in order to connect rural communities regardless of how complex the service solutions might be.”

This technological challenge includes establishing a land link from Baie-Comeau to Blanc-Sablon. A second backbone microwave network will provide overlapping service to the communities, particularly the 12 communities only accessible by sea.

“Our teams have been working for over five years to find an ambitious solution for providing service in the Lower North Shore,” explains Marie-Christine D’Amours, Vice-President, Consumer Market and Customer Contact Centres, TELUS Québec, “and we are now able to launch this incredible project. It will be carried out over a four-year period, and the first cell towers will be operational as of the third quarter of 2019.”

About TELUS

• TELUS offers the largest and fastest mobile network in the country, ranking first not only for network quality but also for upload and download speeds. In 2017, TELUS won all the major awards for mobile networks, including those conferred by J.D. Power, Ookla, PCMag and Open Signal.
• According to independent tests on 4G network speeds, TELUS boasts some truly outstanding results putting it miles ahead of the competition. The average tested download speed on the TELUS 4G network was 44.5 Mbps, one of the fastest ever measured for a nationwide network provider.
• For 90 years, the 1,400 members of the Rimouski team who make up a large part of TELUS Québec’s 6,000 team members have been committed to ensuring prosperity in regional areas and worked hard to demonstrate our commitment to promoting social and economic development throughout Quebec.
• Over the last five years, TELUS has provided $1,045,000 in sponsorships to various community organizations and local initiatives in Rimouski. Sponsorships include Les Grandes Fêtes TELUS (a music festival), the Rimouski Oceanic hockey team and the Fury soccer club. Over the last five years, TELUS has also made some $193,500 in donations to organizations, including the Maison des familles de Baie-Comeau , a family assistance agency; the Maison des jeunes Le S.Q.U.A.T. , a youth drop-in centre; Exeko , a community centre; and Natashquan pour la sauvegarde de la Source , a heritage preservation foundation.             

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T ) (NYSE: TU ) is Canada’s fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $13.1 billion of annual revenue and 12.9 million customer connections, including 8.8 million wireless subscribers, 1.7 million high-speed Internet subscribers, 1.3 million residential network access lines and 1.1 million TELUS TV customers. TELUS provides a wide range of communication products and services, including wireless, data, internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment, and video. TELUS is also the biggest IT service provider in Canadian health care, and its subsidiary TELUS International offers business solutions on a global scale.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, its team members and its retirees have contributed $482 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations since 2000 and volunteered more than 7.7 million hours of service to local communities. Established in 2005 by TELUS President and CEO Darren Entwistle, TELUS Canada’s 13 community investment committees and five committees abroad direct activities to support local charitable organizations. These committees have provided over $60 million in support to 5,595 local projects dedicated to enriching the lives of some two million children and youths each year. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.