TELUS stated this week that it intends to invest more than $66 billion over the next five years in a bid to enhance network infrastructure and operations across Canada.
The funding announcement “builds upon the $294 billion that TELUS has put to work across Canada since 2000,” according to chief executive officer Darren Entwistle, “to ensure our fellow citizens have the vital connectivity needed to thrive in today’s digital world.”
TELUS’ investments over the past 26 years, says Entwistle, “represent the financial equivalent of constructing 84 Canadian Pacific Railways or 58 St. Lawrence Seaways or 27 Trans-Canada Highway systems.”
He posits such modern-day “critical infrastructure” represents “the 21st century equivalent to building transportation corridors that connect our country.”
“The connectivity we are delivering helps improve the lives of Canadians by enabling teleworking, online healthcare, and education flexibility,” Entwistle explains, “while also accelerating Canada’s digital economy for heightened productivity, innovation and competitiveness.”
Moreover, he says, “our 5G and PureFibre networks are supporting transformational change in respect of remediating our environment, advancing agriculture efficiency and food chain security, and bridging socio-economic and geographic divides.”
Entwistle points out how TELUS’ 5G network now reaches more than 90% of Canada’s population, while the PureFibre network brings internet technology to 3.7 million households and businesses, covering 99% of TELUS’ legacy copper footprint.
“Over the past 26 years, TELUS has laid 162,000 kilometres of fibre, which is enough to circle the Earth four times,” Entiwstle says, noting that “the environmental and societal benefits of replacing copper with TELUS PureFibre are considerable.”
By recycling decommissioned copper, for example, “TELUS has eliminated 9,300 tonnes of emissions,” according to Entwistle, “equal to removing nearly 2,000 cars from roads for a year.”
“Moreover, as we decommission copper from our central offices, we are re-developing these now vacant buildings to be used as affordable, sustainable housing,” he added. “By continuing to invest in our world-leading networks, we are demonstrating TELUS’ commitment to Always Building Canada, supporting our fellow Canadians for generations to come.”
The $66B in capital will help fund a variety of enhancements across the organization’s offering, including on the artificial intelligence front, where TELUS has been decidedly proactive.
Earlier this month, Techcouver reported that TELUS is planning a major expansion of its artificial intelligence infrastructure in British Columbia as part of a push to scale Canada’s sovereign AI capacity.
The B.C. cluster includes three facilities: an expansion of TELUS’ existing Kamloops data centre and two new Vancouver sites being developed in collaboration with Westbank and partners.
At full scale, the B.C. cluster is expected to house more than 60,000 high-performance GPUs and reach more than 150 megawatts of total capacity by 2032.
Working with partners such as NVIDIA, TELUS says it has secured an initial 85 megawatts of clean, renewable power from BC Hydro for the expansion.
Acknowledging environmental concerns, TELUS says a closed-loop liquid cooling system will reduce cooling energy use by 80% compared with traditional data centres while recycling waste heat as carbon-free thermal energy.
The fully scaled cluster is expected to deliver approximately $9 billion in economic value to British Columbia, create more than 1,000 construction jobs, and support hundreds of high-skilled operations roles.
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