VANCOUVER – Telus said Friday that it will spend $1 billion to make Vancouver the world’s next gigabit-enabled city.
The Vancouver-based company will connect the majority of the city’s homes and businesses directly to its fibre optic network over the next five years. When the first neighbourhoods are fully connected early next year, local residents and businesses will be able to take advantage of Internet speeds of up to 150 megabits per second, which will increase in the coming years to keep pace with demand.
"Bringing fibre optic infrastructure directly to homes and businesses is a generational investment, and the most significant contribution our organization can make to propel Canada's communications infrastructure and ensure its global competitiveness for decades to come," said Telus president and CEO Darren Entwistle, in the announcement. “Our $1 billion investment will provide one of Canada's largest urban centres with ubiquitous access to the fastest and most reliable Internet services to dramatically improve the way Vancouverites live, work and socialise.”
Entwistle added that once Telus' fibre build is complete, more than 400,000 homes, businesses, hospitals, community centres and municipal offices will be added to the company’s “fibre-lit landscape”.
There is no requirement to be a current Telus customer to be connected to the network, nor are there any conditions to purchase services once the network construction is complete, adds the announcement.
This significant commitment is part of Telus’ plan to invest an additional $4 billion in British Columbia through 2018. When combined with operational expenses, this will bring Telus’ investment in the province over the next four years to more than $11.5 billion.
