BROADBAND: Internet speeds will also more than double under plan to 30 mps
Province
Telus Corp. plans to spend $600 million over the next three years to beef up its broadband network in a move that will allow the major telecommunications company to offer high-definition television.
The Vancouver company said Friday it plans to install advanced Internet equipment in more than 7,000 sites and run fibre-optic cable closer to its customers’ homes.
“Telus TV is really just one example. This paves the way for emerging multimedia applications and other services that we can deliver in the not-too-distant future,” said Joe Grech, executive vice-president of Telus network operations.
The company said the new infrastructure will more than double Internet access speeds to 15 to 30 megabits a second, from up to seven megabits under ideal circumstances.
The investment is in addition to the $190 million Telus plans to spend this year to begin the upgrades in 38 communities in B.C., Alberta and eastern Quebec that will be completed by 2009.
Telus and cable TV company Shaw Communications Inc. are in a fierce battle in Western Canada over supplying telecom services to customers.
Despite strength in its mobile phone business, Telus lost 44,000 network access lines in its latest quarter as customers dropped their traditional home phones for mobile phones and moved to competitors like Shaw and Vonage.
The cable company has boasted a gain of 50,294 new digital phone lines in its most recent quarter, to bring its total to 168,963 lines at the end of May.
Looking to return the favour, Telus responded by rolling out its TV service in Alberta, with plans to expand the service to Vancouver in coming months.
“There’s two things that are converging for us. One is the availability of technology, which enables these types of speeds,” Grech said. “The other is, compression technologies are also being advanced at a very rapid pace so the ability to send content and develop applications over the access infrastructure is increasing at a very exciting pace.”
© The Vancouver Province 2006
