Go Pink with TELUS to bring mammography equipment to The Ottawa Hospital

Give the gift of health to women in your community with the purchase of a pink BlackBerry smartphone only from TELUS

OTTAWA, May 10 /CNW/ - TELUS and The Ottawa Hospital Foundation today announced their milestone campaign to make a 'pink difference' and bring additional digital mammography equipment to the hospital. Between May 6 and October 31, 2010, TELUS will donate $25 to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation for the purchase of each pink BlackBerry Curve 8530 or the upcoming pink BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone available only at TELUS. This new high-tech equipment will replace the current analogue (or film based) equipment used at The Ottawa Hospital. It will provide doctors with clearer images which in the end, provides earlier detection of breast cancer for women in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec.

Traditional mammogram X-rays do not penetrate dense breast tissue, making it more difficult to interpret results and detect tumours. Digital mammography equipment produces more accurate results with advanced capabilities to generate magnified images of breast tissue to help with the early detection of breast cancer. Access to this advanced digital equipment is limited. This campaign will help to bring vital equipment to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation and increase the chance of survival from this life-threatening disease.

The TELUS "Go Pink" campaign will fund tangible social outcomes that women and men will benefit from immediately. The coast-to-coast campaign is benefiting communities by funding innovative breast cancer technology in healthcare facilities across Canada, 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 and QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

"As a Canadian technology leader and a committed corporate citizen, TELUS recognizes the need to bring the latest technology to local healthcare providers in an effort to help with the early detection of breast cancer," said Anne-Marie Laberge, vice-president, TELUS Customer Solutions. "As a woman and mother, I am so grateful that our TELUS team and our customers have an opportunity to give back in a meaningful way to help with the purchase of new digital mammography machines in our communities."

"We are thrilled to be partnering with TELUS to help bring such an important piece of equipment to The Ottawa Hospital," said Guy Morency, Director of Diagnostic Imaging at The Ottawa Hospital. "More than 22,000 patients from the Nation's Capital and Eastern Ontario come to The Ottawa Hospital to receive mammograms every year. Through this partnership, TELUS is enabling us to improve our technology and deliver better results to our patients."

The BlackBerry Curve 8530 smartphone, for $49.99 on a three-year plan, and the BlackBerry Pearl 3G smartphone, coming soon for $29.99 on a three-year plan, are only available in pink from TELUS. For more information about the TELUS Go Pink campaign, please visit www.telus.com/pink.

About The Ottawa Hospital

The Ottawa Hospital is a multi-campus, academic health sciences centre, serving 1.2 million residents of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, both in English and French. It provides care for more patients than any other hospital in Canada, and boasts specialty centres in cancer, heart, kidney and vision care, as well as rehabilitation services. For more information, visit The Ottawa Hospital Web site at www.ottawahospital.on.ca.

About The Ottawa Hospital Foundation

The Ottawa Hospital Foundation's mission is to inspire and enable people to support the highest quality health care at The Ottawa Hospital and lifesaving research at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. For more information, visit The Ottawa Hospital Foundation Web site at www.ohfoundation.ca.

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 11.9 million customer connections including 6.6 million wireless subscribers, 3.9 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers and 200,000 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: Ingrid Gingras, Media Relations and Marketing Officer, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, [phone], ext. 18718, [email protected]; Megan Fielding, TELUS Media Relations, [phone], [email protected]