TELUS celebrates 85 years in Quebec

Launches contest to thank Quebec's community investment leaders

RIMOUSKI, QC, June 7, 2012 /CNW/ - François Côté, President of TELUS Québec and TELUS Health Solutions, Rimouski Mayor Éric Forest and other local dignitaries joined TELUS team members and retirees in Rimouski to celebrate the company's 85^th anniversary in Quebec.

"TELUS is proud to have 85 years of history in Quebec; we have a great tradition of challenges met, innovative ideas unleashed and investments in our communities made. We are proud of the $12.3 billion investment we've made across the province since 2000 that allows our 5,500 team members to better serve our customers and drive growth in Quebec," notes François Côté. "We also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge our company's builders, the spirited teamwork of our current and retired employees, as well as the trust and loyalty of our customers and partners, who have stood by our side for many years. Thanks to this unwavering support we give back to our communities and have helped build the Quebec of today and tomorrow."

To mark its 85th anniversary in Quebec, TELUS is launching a new contest, in partnership with La Presse and Le Soleil: TELUS Community Excellence Awards, The Top 30. It will recognize the dedication of leaders across Quebec. Candidates will be selected by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) as well as the Association des professionnels en gestion philanthropique (APGP). For more information on selection criteria or to nominate an individual who has demonstrated outstanding innovation and philanthropic involvement, visit telusquebec.com/fr/ext/evenements/excellence.

Today's announcement follows a number of initiatives already underway in celebration of TELUS' 85th anniversary, including:

• a major capital investment of $840 million over the next three years to expand and enhance the reach and capability of TELUS' mobile and wireline broadband networks in Quebec, which includes $90 million in Rimouski.
• the April 30 launch of a music album featuring 13 songs used in TELUS commercials, performed by our brightest French-language stars and emerging artists. TELUS will donate $1 to Opération Enfant Soleil for each album sold.
• a three-year partnership with the Sun Life Financial's Les Grandes Fêtes du St-Laurent, a festival that celebrates cultural and community development in all of Eastern Quebec, and showcases local music talent.
• a partnership with the Regional Museum of Rimouski for "Jacques Goldstyn et Les Débrouillards 30 ans de BD et de sciences," a mobile exhibition featuring a segment on the telecommunications evolution.

A bit of history

On June 7, 1927, Jules-André Brillant, a visionary entrepreneur from Rimouski, created the Corporation de Téléphone et de Pouvoir du Québec. The company became Québec Téléphone in 1955 and TELUS Québec in 2001. In addition to Jules-André Brillant, the organization has benefited from the leadership of many other great Quebecers including Basile A.-Bénéteau, Raymond Sirois, Gilles Laroche, Hugues St-Pierre and since 2009, François Côté. Throughout its history, TELUS and its team members have been an integral part of multiple innovative projects and achieved some significant firsts:

• In the early 1960s, Québec Téléphone had the largest service area in Quebec, covering Tadoussac to Blanc-Sablon, Beauce to L'Islet, and all of Eastern Quebec from Rimouski eastward. During this period, the company expanded its network to support and facilitate the industry and business development in the Côte-Nord region.
• Québec Téléphone was the first company to offer regional mobile telephony, in 1988, with individual lines available to all of its customers by 1991.
• In 1995, the company launched its GlobeTrotter Internet service, a first in the French-speaking world.
• In 1999, QuébecTel launched the ZEB project, TELUS' very first IP television service. In 2007, TELUS became the first Canadian company to market a French-language IP television service with TELUS TV, and in 2010, the company signed an agreement with Microsoft for Optik TV.
• In 2005, TELUS created the TELUS Community Boards, which brought together local leaders and TELUS team members. Since then, the three Quebec Community Boards, located in Rimouski, Montreal and Quebec City, have supported hundreds of Quebec charities and donated $8 million.
• Since the acquisition of Emergis in 2009, TELUS has been a Canadian leader in telehealth, electronic health records, remote patient monitoring, mobile home and community care, consumer health, benefits management and pharmacy management. TELUS was the first in Canada to launch the Personal Health Record, an online tool to manage health information that can also be shared with health professionals.
• In 2011, TELUS announced it would build a new Intelligent Internet Data Centre in Rimouski, set to be one of the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly purpose-built data centres of its kind in North America. The facility will significantly enhance TELUS' IT management services to businesses.

About TELUS in Quebec
A vibrant corporate presence in Quebec for nearly 85 years, TELUS currently employs more than 5,500 team members in the province. Since 2000, the company has invested nearly $12.3 billion in Quebec's economy and infrastructure development. A Canadian industry leader, TELUS offers Quebec communities access to state-of-the-art global communication technologies, at home and in the workplace. In support of our philosophy to give where we live, the company has contributed $30 million since 2005 to support local organizations in the Quebec community such as Opération Enfant Soleil, Dr Julien Foundation, Les Oeuvres Jean Lafrance and l'Association du cancer de l'Est du Québec.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $10.5 billion of annual revenue and 12.7 million customer connections including 7.4 million wireless subscribers, 3.5 million wireline network access lines and 1.3 million Internet subscribers and more than 550,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $260 million to numerous 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.

Jacinthe Beaulieu
TELUS Media Relations
418-318-6102
jacinthe.beaulie[email protected]