Telus announced Monday it will invest $17 billion in British Columbia and more than $16 billion in Alberta to significantly expand and improve its network infrastructure and operations across those two provinces over the next five years.
These investments are part of the Vancouver-based telecom’s larger commitment to deploy $73 billion across Canada by 2028 to develop infrastructure, improve sustainability and advance its network technology, it said.
Part of its investment in the two provinces through 2028 will go toward enhancing its 5G network with open radio access network (ORAN) technology, Telus said.
The telecom added it is using artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to plan new infrastructure builds that will optimize coverage and network performance. In 2024, Telus plans to double the number of new cell towers built across B.C. and Alberta in 2023, expanding coverage in areas including Burnaby, Surrey, Kelowna and Vancouver in B.C., and Calgary, Edmonton and Sherwood Park in Alberta. Telus said it also plans to expand coverage to rural areas along B.C.’s Highway 20, as part of a strategic partnership with the CRTC, and to expand coverage to rural areas such as Alberta’s Eden Valley, in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada.
Since 2000, Telus has invested more than $63 billion in B.C. and more than $60 billion in Alberta on network infrastructure, operations and spectrum, connecting households and businesses to its 5G and Telus PureFibre networks, according to the company’s separate, province-specific press releases.
Telus said, over the past decade, it has already connected more than 1.9 million homes and businesses in B.C. with Telus PureFibre, including more than 280,000 in rural areas. In Alberta, more than one million households and businesses have been connected to Telus PureFibre, including more than 120,000 in rural areas, it said.
