True North Strong and Fast - TELUS arriving in Northern Canada

TELUS committed to communities - kicks off Phones for Good campaign in Yellowknife and Whitehorse

YELOWKNIFE, N.W.T., Aug. 26, 2013 /CNW/ - TELUS has arrived in Northern Canada. Customers in the Northwest Territories and Yukon will now be able to sign up for TELUS wireless products and services, including SharePlus plans with unlimited nationwide talk and text and shared data - at the same price offered anywhere else in Canada. Local residents can take advantage of blazing fast wireless Internet speeds when surfing the web, reading emails or accessing the latest chart-topping music and social media through TELUS' 4G and 4G LTE technology.

"TELUS is tremendously proud to offer its full suite of wireless products and services to residents of the Northwest Territories and Yukon. For the very first time, starting September 6, you will be able to purchase a smartphone or other device from TELUS and activate a local Yellowknife or Whitehorse phone number," said Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO. "At TELUS, we're on a mission to lead the world in customer service reflecting our passion for excellence in caring for our clients. We are committed to bringing all Canadians, whether urban or rural, in the spectacular north and from coast to coast, our world-class network and broad range of the latest smartphones and devices. We look forward to serving even more communities across Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut as TELUS' 4G and 4G LTE coverage expands."

TELUS is proud to be a part of the Northern Canadian community. In celebration of today's launch, for every TELUS customer in the Northwest Territories who purchases a new smartphone and activates a Yellowknife phone number, TELUS will contribute $25 to the Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation in Yellowknife. Funds raised will go toward the purchase of new equipment for the Obstetrics Unit. In the Yukon, $25 from every Whitehorse phone number activation will support new technology to aid in the early detection of developmental disabilities at Yukon Child Development Centre. Both of these TELUS Phones for Good campaigns will run September 6, 2013 to May 6, 2014, contributing up to a maximum of $25,000 for each charity.

"With patients from all 33 communities across the Northwest Territories, plus the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut - the largest geographic area in Canada - the Obstetrics Unit at the Stanton Territorial Hospital helps deliver more than 600 babies a year," said Rebecca Alty, Executive Director of the Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation. "To maintain the excellent level of care we provide to patients, the Hospital needs constant upgrades and it's through generous partners like TELUS that we can accomplish this. We're incredibly grateful for their support."

Customers in the Northwest Territories and Yukon will be able to sign up for TELUS services starting September 6, but this is only the beginning of TELUS' continued expansion into Canada's north. Petron Communications, a long-time TELUS authorized dealer serving rural communities in northern B.C., will open stores in Yellowknife and Whitehorse later in 2013. These stores will feature the popular TELUS Learning Centres soon after opening. Customers looking to get the most from their smartphones or tablets can come into the stores and get personalized tutorials so they can learn how to get the most from their devices.

Local customers will be able to take advantage of TELUS' new SharePlus plans. The plans come with unlimited nationwide talk and text, four popular calling features including voicemail and call display, and a data package of their choice that can be shared across multiple devices and people in the same household. With unlimited nationwide talk and text, customers can talk to family and friends all over the country without worrying about overages or long distance charges.

Shareplus builds on a drive to put customers at the core of TELUS' pricing plans that began with Clear and Simple plans launched in 2009 - the first wireless plans in Canada to do away with the system access fee. Since then, TELUS has eliminated activation fees, introduced data notifications and caps to eliminate bill shock when travelling, introduced device unlocking, re-written contracts in plain language, added caller ID and voicemail as standard on all TELUS rate plans, and eliminated contract cancellation charges in favour of a device balance.

TELUS also recently launched Canada's first network experience mobile application, giving customers an easy way to report network issues, as well as the TELUS My Account app, an easy-to-use mobility app that lets customers conveniently make changes to accounts while on the go. Customers can monitor monthly data, text or voice usage, check account balances, device balances and contract status. Plus, there are no data charges for using the app, even when you're out of Canada, on a 4G (HSPA) device.

TELUS has a proud history of servicing urban, suburban and rural Canada with the most advanced wireless services in the world. TELUS plans to continuously progress its track record in this regard as long as the company is able to obtain the necessary wireless spectrum in near-term and future Industry Canada auctions.

To sign up for TELUS services, please visit www.telus.com/north or call 1-866-264-2966.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $11.2 billion of annual revenue and 13.2 million customer connections, including 7.7 million wireless subscribers, 3.3 million wireline network access lines, 1.4 million Internet subscribers and 743,000 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 $300 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.8 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Fourteen TELUS Community Boards 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.

SOURCE: TELUS Corporation

For media inquiries, please contact: 

Chris Gerritsen
TELUS Media Relations
403-808-9591
[email protected]