A smartphone cause for smarter breast health: Canadians support Breast Cancer
Awareness month with TELUS

TELUS extends pink BlackBerry smartphone campaign until December 31

TORONTO, Oct. 14 /CNW/ - TELUS today announced the extension of its 'Go Pink' campaign in support of breast cancer detection until December 31, 2010. Since May, TELUS has donated $25 from the sale of its exclusive pink BlackBerry devices to local breast cancer organizations across Canada to help bring early breast cancer detection equipment to our communities. The announcement was made today by TELUS President and CEO Darren Entwistle at the Canadian Club, where he gave away 400 pink BlackBerry smartphones to the attending audience.

"At TELUS we believe technology can make a difference in our healthcare sector and by connecting our pink smartphones with a cause like breast cancer, we are helping to invest in technology that leads to better breast health," said Mr. Entwistle. "There is a crucial need for digital mammography equipment across Canada to help deliver faster diagnosis. In partnership with local healthcare organizations, TELUS is excited to continue this campaign until the end of the year to bring much-needed breast cancer detection equipment to our communities." 

Thanks to overwhelming support from Facebook fans, TELUS also announced an additional $200,000 donation to the 'Go Pink' campaign. TELUS extended this campaign to its social network in September, inviting fans to turn their profile pink to help support the cause and committing additional support if 500,000 fans made the switch. To date, more than 500,000 caring fans have shown their support, exceeding the goal and helping inject additional support into the campaign.

The TELUS 'Go Pink' campaign directs all of its funds to local health organizations across the country for the purchase of digital mammography equipment. For each TELUS customer who purchases a pink BlackBerry Curve 8530 or pink BlackBerry Pearl 3G, or the recently added pink BlackBerry Curve 3G, TELUS donates $25 to organizations including;  BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre Foundation, Alberta Cancer Foundation, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, CancerCare Manitoba, Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation in Toronto, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, Segal Cancer Center at the Montreal Jewish General Hospital, Quebec City's CHUQ and QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

For breast cancer awareness month, the TELUS 'Go Pink' campaign is in full 'Pink' bloom - online, on the go and in our stores. Canadians can visit TELUS' Facebook page to turn their profile pink to support the campaign. TELUS customers can also text 'PINK' to 30333 to make a personal $10 donation to the 'Go Pink' campaign. Customers visiting TELUS stores will see pink from BlackBerry devices, to window displays to team members' attire. TELUS encourages Canadians to 'Go Pink' and pass it on.

For more information about TELUS' 'Go Pink' campaign please visit www.telus.com/pink.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $9.6 billion of annual revenue and 12 million customer connections including 6.7 million wireless subscribers, 3.8 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers and 228,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed $158 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 3.1 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Nine TELUS Community Boards across Canada lead TELUS' local philanthropic initiatives. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

For further information:

Megan Fielding
TELUS Media Relations
[phone]
[email protected]