TELUS 4G LTE wireless service goes live in Halifax

Haligonians can access some of the fastest speeds in the world

HALIFAX, Feb. 9, 2012 /CNW/ - TELUS today announced that its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless service will be available to Haligonians on Friday, February 10. TELUS plans to continue rolling out its 4G LTE coverage to more regions across Canada to reach more than 25 million Canadians by the end of 2012.

TELUS customers can experience the full capabilities of TELUS' 4G LTE network with the highly popular Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 LTE tablet, the LG Optimus LTE smartphone or the Novatel Wireless Ovation MC679 4G LTE Mobile Internet Key, available in TELUS stores and online on February 10. The 4G LTE-capable Samsung Galaxy Note will also be available on February 14.

TELUS 4G LTE network supports manufacturers' rated peak download speeds of up to 75 megabits per second (Mbps), with an expected average of 12 to 25 Mbps. TELUS customers will experience dramatically faster downloads when surfing the web, reading emails or getting the latest chart topping music. Downloading a 600 megabyte album of songs with a 4G LTE-capable device will take just 3.5 to 7 minutes. Importantly, if TELUS customers travel outside of 4G LTE network coverage areas, they will move seamlessly from 4G LTE to 4G, with no disruption of service.

"We are driven to offer the best customer experience and we have followed through by launching our 4G LTE service in Halifax and 13 other metropolitan centres across Canada. We also offer a solid and growing selection of LTE capable devices to ensure our customers can enjoy all the benefits of this advanced wireless technology," said Ken Power, TELUS Business Solutions, Atlantic Canada. "We're listening to our customers and committed to giving them clear and simple service terms with no surprises. Consistent with this approach, our current rate plans will apply to our 4G LTE customers. We are not introducing a new rate plan or charging a premium to enjoy our new network."

Over the past few years, TELUS has introduced: rate plans without system access and 911 carrier fees, a device unlocking service, free SMS data notifications so customers know how much data they have used, and flexible data rate plans to avoid bill shock when customers go over their regular usage.  TELUS also reduced international roaming rates by up to 60 per cent.

LTE is the latest evolution in TELUS' wireless network technology rollover plan made possible by the 2009 launch of Canada's fastest* coast-to-coast 4G wireless network. Today this service reaches more than 97 per cent of Canadians. Since 2000, TELUS has invested more than $30 billion to bring Canadians some of the most advanced wireless and wireline broadband networks in the world.

TELUS 4G LTE will be available in the following 14 metropolitan areas: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area, Kitchener, Waterloo, Hamilton, Guelph, Belleville, Ottawa, Montreal, Québec City, Halifax and Yellowknife.

Starting February 10, please visit www.telusmobility.com/4GLTE for more information on TELUS 4G LTE and to sign up for network coverage updates.

*Based on TELUS' tests of data throughput speeds in large Canadian urban centres available from national HSPA+ service providers.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $10.3 billion of annual revenue and 12.6 million customer connections including 7.2 million wireless subscribers, 3.6 million wireline network access lines, 1.3 million Internet subscribers and more than 450,000 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 $265 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.2 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Eleven 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.

Forward-looking statements
This news release contains forward looking statements regarding further LTE coverage expansion, LTE device availability and content library growth. By their nature, forward-looking statements require the Company to make assumptions and predictions about future events and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from that expressed or implied by the forward looking statements. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. TELUS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements.

Lara Ryan
Lara Ryan Consulting
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[email protected]