Telus to Spend $103 Million on infrastructure in Edmonton Region

Telus is spending $103 million in the Edmonton region this year on building out its infrastructure, including wireless sites and fibre-optic cable connections, the telecom company reported.

The money is part of a plan to spend $700 million across Alberta this year, and a three-year $2-billion commitment in total. Telus says it has spent $26 billion on operations and technology in Alberta since 2000.

This year's infrastructure spending will go toward connecting hundreds of new homes and businesses directly to fibre-optic cable. Telus says the improvements will radically increase Internet speeds and power its Optik TV. The service will be extended to reach nearly 90 per cent of Alberta households by the end of 2013. There are currently 712,000 Optik customers.

The company is also installing dozens of new wireless sites to improve coverage and wireless data capacity in urban areas, rural communities and highway corridors.

So far in 2013, Telus says it has rolled out 4G LTE to more than 85 per cent of Albertans, including those in communities along the Queen Elizabeth II Highway between Edmonton and Calgary, the Cold Lake region, Lake Louise and Banff.

About $1.3 million of the $103 million earmarked for Edmonton is expected to go toward research at the University of Alberta on emerging health-care technologies, Telus said.

source from wireworld