VANCOUVER – Not wanting to let Shaw have the news all to itself this week, Telus announced today that it will build a brand new $15 million digital headend north of British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.
The headend, which will be operational by this summer, will deliver Telus TV to subscribers in B.C. and Alberta.
It will initially provide Telus TV customers with more than 200 video and audio channels once it is fully operational – growing to well over 300 channels within a year. In addition to eight satellite dishes, with room for three more, Telus is installing Internet Protocol-based network and signal transport technology to manage signals and distribute content to customers.
"The centre will allow Telus to bring our customers the best possible selection of all digital channels and superior network reliability when we launch Telus TV in B.C. later this year," said Fred Di Blasio, vice-president of consumer product marketing.
The headend will give Telus the ability to deliver all that its cable competitors offer, in terms of channels from local programming to time-shifted eastern channels, all specialty channels and multicultural offerings.
The site is ideal for a satellite and content distribution centre – it is close to B.C.’s major population centres and at a high elevation, allowing Telus to offer the best possible signals to customers. Telus has also had radio and cell facilities at the site for 50 years, reducing the cost of installing new roads and infrastructure. Construction of the centre will create 40 to 50 jobs, while another five to 10 permanent positions will be created to maintain the site once it is complete.
The new installation is Telus’ latest investment, part of an ongoing and significant program that has seen the company invest $1.8 billion in Internet and other infrastructure around B.C. over the last three years.
Telus built a similar centre in Edmonton, Alberta in 2005, which is now delivering Telus TV to customers in Calgary and Edmonton. The Alberta and B.C. facilities can each serve both provinces and will back up the other, ensuring customers will continue to receive service should one experience an outage.
