TELUS investing $2 billion in Alberta over next three years

Hiring 750 employees, bringing world's fastest wireless service to 3 million Albertans, and bridging the digital divide for rural Albertans

EDMONTON, May 3, 2012 /CNW/ - TELUS will invest $2 billion in advanced technology over the next three years in Alberta.

This significant investment builds on the more than $26 billion the company has invested in technology and operations in the province since 2000. It will fuel the expansion of TELUS' advanced wireless and wireline broadband networks across the province.

"The economic backbone of Alberta relies on investment and innovation. TELUS' $2 billion investment over the next three years will support significant economic and community development in every region of Alberta," said Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO. "We will continue to expand wireline broadband access to rural and remote communities and deliver 4G LTE, the world's fastest wireless technology, to more than 80 per cent of Albertans by the end of this year. We are building the communications technology and infrastructure that will help Alberta companies compete on the world stage, create local employment opportunities, and advance healthcare and education across the province for the benefit of citizens."

One of Alberta's largest private sector employers, TELUS' investments will result in the hiring of 750 people across the province this year to support its Optik TV and wireless growth.

"As important as our technology investments are to our success, our commitment to local communities is near and dear to our hearts. TELUS believes deeply in the symbiotic relationship between the success of business and the welfare of our communities," continued Mr. Entwistle. "We embrace a simple philosophy - we give where we live - and we take great pride in the social outcomes we are helping to realize, such as contributing $875,000 to the Alberta Cancer Foundation through our Go Pink community campaigns and the TELUS World Skins Game, held last year in Banff. Since 2000, our TELUS family of 14,000 employees and retirees in Alberta has donated over $82 million dollars and, more importantly, volunteered 1.2 million hours, with our hearts and our hands, to community and charitable organisations here in Alberta. Additionally, the TELUS team will contribute a further $10 million dollars to local, grassroots community projects in 2012."

TELUS' $2 billion investment will:

• Extend its new 4G LTE wireless network from Calgary and Edmonton to an additional seven communities in 2012. This year, TELUS will extend service to Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, Lloydminster and Brooks, with more to come over the next few years if TELUS is able to secure the necessary wireless spectrum through Industry Canada's upcoming spectrum auctions. 4G LTE is the most advanced, fastest wireless technology available in the world today.
  
  
• Connect 18 remote and geographically challenging Alberta communities to broadband internet this year, including Bear Canyon, Blue Ridge, Brocket, Bruce, Donalda, Ferintosh, Hays, Holden, Hussar, Jarvie, Keephills, Marlboro, Pickardville, Walsh, Waterton Park, Mulhurst, Seba Beach and Wildwood. By 2014 we will connect a further 37 communities to ensure citizens have access to high speed internet.
  
  
• Further extend Optik TV service to reach nearly 70 per cent of Alberta households by the end of 2012. At the end of 2011, TELUS had 509,000 TV customers, adding 56,000 in the final three months of the year alone.
  
  
• Continue to improve lives and save healthcare dollars through the company's healthcare technology. On February 2, TELUS acquired Wolf Medical Systems, a company that provides cloud-based electronic medical records to 1,500 doctors in Alberta and B.C. All 75 people working for Wolf have joined TELUS to create a new division called TELUS Physician Solutions, which will provide Canadian doctors and other healthcare providers technology to help them use and share patient information to improve service delivery and patient outcomes. This acquisition builds on the $1 billion TELUS has invested to become Canada's leading healthcare IT provider. TELUS' healthcare solutions are backed by a team of 1,500 health innovators who are dedicated to helping transform healthcare and delivering better patient outcomes.
  
  
• Support unique community fundraising projects contributing to the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation in St. Albert; the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum in Grande Prairie; the Lethbridge Public Library; and in Edmonton, to the Campaign for Prostate Health. Similar programs in 2011 raised $350,000 dollars for the University of Lethbridge; $250,000 dollars for the G.H. Dawe Community Centre in Red Deer; and $250,000 dollars for a new aquatic and wellness multiplex in Grande Prairie, to name a few.

The capital investment disclosed in this release is consistent with TELUS' overall capital expenditure guidance for 2012.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $10.4 billion of annual revenue and 12.7 million customer connections including 7.3 million wireless subscribers, 3.6 million wireline network access lines and 1.3 million Internet subscribers and more than 500,000 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 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 statement:
This news release contains statements about expected future events of TELUS that are forward-looking. By their nature, forward-looking statements require the Company to make assumptions and predictions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a number of factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from that expressed in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, TELUS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements.

Chris Gerritsen
TELUS Media Relations
[phone]
[email protected]

B-roll of TELUS infrastructure projects can be downloaded from the following FTP site:

FTP://209.52.48.241
Username: 12-079
Password: t3lu5