Telus has announced it is investing $61 million in Prince George this year as part of a $13 billion investment in infrastructure and operations across British Columbia through 2024.
The investment is intended to support the province throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recovery.
The company says these investments will create important and tangible social outcomes as many British Columbians increasingly work, learn, access healthcare, and socialize from home.
The investments in Prince George include:
- Bringing the 5G network speeds to Prince George enabling residents and businesses to access the fastest 5G network in Canada, providing speeds up to 1.7 Gbps. Telus says 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 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 says 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.
“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 in a news release.
“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 has also donated more than $1.5 million to local charities in Prince George, and throughout the challenging year in 2020 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
“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.”
The company, which also employs around 400 people in the city and 8,000 across the province, says it’s to support Prince George throughout last year its networks helped residents and businesses as we all adapted to new ways of living.
Telus adds these new investments build upon its 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.
